Products September 14, 2017

NAGDCA Offers Free Retirement Plan Communications Campaign

The campaign can be used by public- and private-sector retirement plan sponsors.

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In anticipation of National Retirement Security Week, which is October 15 to 21 this year, the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) is offering a free, ready-to-use communications campaign for retirement plan sponsors.

The “Your Whole Story” campaign, which can be used by public- and private-sector plan sponsors, is designed to engage employees in a discussion about their overall financial decision-making, with an emphasis on their retirement savings decisions. The campaign was created by the National Association of Retirement Plan Participants (NARPP) using a process grounded in behavioral finance and human centered design to generate higher levels of engagement and behavior change.

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NAGDCA says test use on County of Los Angeles employees in 2016 resulted in a 25% increase in plan participation and a 48% increase in savings rates.

The “Your Whole Story” campaign is a suite of ready-to-use materials that can be easily accessed, used generically or customized, and implemented in digital or printed form by plan sponsors to use with their employees, and employees can share with family and friends. It covers a wide-range of topics, including the need to have an emergency fund, the power of compound interest and the importance of never removing funds from a retirement account.

“NAGDCA’s goal in facilitating the creation of National Retirement Security Week was to create a grassroots movement for societal change around retirement. ‘Your Whole Story’ is a campaign using best practices and behaviorally effective methods to engage participants in becoming aware of their role in preparing for retirement. Specifically, it was designed to relieve the burden on plan sponsors, who are typically tasked with communicating with employees, but often lack the necessary resources,” says Polly Scott, NAGDCA executive board member and former president, and Communication & Deferred Compensation Plan manager at the Wyoming Retirement System.

“Your Whole Story” information and materials may be accessed at http://www.nagdca.org/NRSW/Story.

Products September 14, 2017

Investment Products and Services Launches

Goldman Sachs launches new ETF; Betterment rolls out smart beta portfolio; and GRP partners with Envestnet to launch CIT suite.

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Goldman Sachs Launches New ETF

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that seeks to track an equal weight index consisting of approximately 500 of the largest U.S. equities. It is the 11th ETF launched by GSAM.

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GSEW seeks to track the Solactive US Large Cap Equal Weight Index (GTR) and will be passively managed by GSAM’s Quantitative Investment Strategies team. The Index employs systematic monthly rebalancing to efficiently track the movement of the largest U.S. companies.

“GSEW seeks to help investors looking for a low cost way to avoid market cap biases, by allocating evenly to the largest U.S. companies, independent of their relative size,” says Michael Crinieri, GSAM’s global head of ETF Strategy.

GSAM most recently launched the Goldman Sachs Access High Yield Corporate Bond ETF and the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF in September and June 2017, respectively.

Betterment Rolls Out Smart Beta Portfolio

Online investment adviser Betterment has released an income portfolio strategy from BlackRock and a smart beta portfolio strategy from Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).

Betterment selected BlackRock’s income portfolio which is designed for clients averse to stock market risk, but who want to target higher levels of income than cash savings accounts deliver. The portfolio invests 100% of assets in U.S. bonds and international bonds issued in U.S. dollars. The portfolio strategy prioritizes capital preservation and generating cash income.

“Our customers continue to seek out strategies that can turn their investments into a steady income,” says Alex Benke, CFP, VP of Financial Advice and Investing at Betterment. “We’re excited to be partnering with BlackRock to provide this new portfolio, and believe that a significant portion of our growing customer base may gain peace of mind by targeting a steady stream of income, while minimizing the risk of losing principal.”

In addition to traditional passive funds, GSAM’s smart beta strategy is led by GSAM’s proprietary performance-seeking ActiveBeta equity ETFs. They seek to deliver stronger risk-adjusted returns relative to traditional market-weighted index products. The ActiveBeta strategy is based on four drivers of performance including good value, strong momentum, high quality and low volatility.

This GSAM portfolio strategy tends to be more heavily allocated to emerging markets, as well as small-cap stocks in both the U.S. and developed countries. The strategy also incorporates REITs and proportionally invests more in high-yield bonds with longer durations, compared to Betterment’s core portfolio strategy.

“Individuals managing their investments through Betterment can now easily tap into GSAM’s investing and risk-management expertise at a low cost,” Benke says. “We’re thrilled to partner with Goldman Sachs Asset Management by offering this new smart beta portfolio to those in our large customer base looking for a thoughtful and deliberate approach to helping achieve better risk-adjusted returns.”

GRP Partners With Envestnet to Launch CIT Suite

GRP Advisor Alliance has partnered with Envestnet | Retirement Solutions (ERS) and Reliance Trust to launch Foundational Retirement Solutions (FRS), a suite of collective investment trusts (CITs).

FRS will be launching 10 core index funds and a passive target-date fund available to retirement plans of all sizes. GRP Advisors says CITs offer a more efficient and flexible structure for ERISA retirement plans, lowering the cost of investments for participants while seeking to positively impact their investment rate of return. 

“We’re incredibly pleased to partner with both ERS and Reliance Trust to accelerate the FRS CIT program,” says Christopher Giles, senior managing partner at GRPAA. “This new, exclusive offering of CITs provides advisers and plan sponsors with access to investments that help manage participant investment expenses and provide real, tangible benefits to plans of all sizes.”

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