Products October 6, 2011

Newport Group Aims to Help Participants with Retirement Income Planning

October 6, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Newport Group has created a new section on its Web site called “My Forecast,” dedicated to helping participants weigh their retirement income options.  

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“My Forecast” can be found onplandestination.com, where employees can view a graphic illustration of the difference between their retirement income goal and how much their expected income will be, based on their current savings.

“What makes ‘My Forecast’ unique is that the participant’s retirement needs become the focal point of the Web site,” notes Eric Brickman, Newport Senior Vice President of Strategic Solutions. “Every time they log on, participants can easily see their income replacement ratio—the percentage of income they need to maintain the same standard of living in retirement. That way, if they are falling short of their goals, they’ll see it immediately and can adjust their contributions and investments accordingly.”

The feature also gives users the ability to further personalize their assumptions so they can make informed decisions on how to adjust their goals, strategies or both. Users can add other plans, accounts, and assets to their calculations. 

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Products October 6, 2011

BlackRock Launches Three Alternative Mutual Funds

October 6, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - BlackRock, Inc. announced the launch of three mutual funds featuring alternative investment strategies available to the firm's U.S. retail and high net worth client base. 
 
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BlackRock says the funds are designed to provide individual investors with access to strategies that offer non-correlated returns and diversification benefits with the goal of minimizing portfolio volatility and preserving return objectives.

The three new funds are:

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•  BlackRock Commodity Strategies Fund (BCSAX): designed to provide investors with complete commodities exposure through commodities futures equities with exposure to natural resources. The Fund will be managed by a team of portfolio managers led by Evy Hambro and Robin Batchelor, joint Chief Investment Officers of the Natural Resources Equity Team and members of the Global Index Commodities Team.

•  BlackRock Emerging Markets Long/Short Equity Fund (BLSAX): fundamentally based and scientifically implemented and uses advanced techniques to identify mis-valuations across stocks and markets in a risk controlled manner. Jeff Shen, Ph.D., Head of Asia Pacific and Emerging Market Equity within BlackRock’s Scientific Active Equity Group, will be the lead portfolio manager of the Fund.

•  BlackRock Global Long/Short Credit Fund (BGCAX): an interest rate neutral, global long/short credit fund seeking to generate total returns from credit markets. Michael Phelps, head of European Credit, and Joshua Tarnow, member of the Corporate Credit Group within the firm’s Fundamental Fixed Income team, will co-manage the Fund.

The new funds will be available to the firm’s retail and high net worth investors through financial intermediaries.

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