Products January 22, 2014

Vanguard Partners with HelloWallet for Financial Education

January 22, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Investment management firm Vanguard will be partnering with HelloWallet, a financial wellness service, to help employees save more for retirement.
Reported by

HelloWallet, headquartered in Washington, D.C., provides personalized and unbiased guidance to individuals on managing debt, spending wisely and maximizing company benefits. Vanguard, which is based in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, expects that the service will help workers become more engaged in managing their finances.

“While we will continue to provide educational content and calculators to participants as important sources of guidance, HelloWallet is based on a deep understanding of an individual’s needs, preferences, and behaviors, which results in more personal guidance,” says Amy Cribbs, head of participant experience for Vanguard. “We believe that HelloWallet has a sound approach that can make it easy for employees to manage their personal finances by nudging them into making appropriate decisions.”

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HelloWallet combines principals of behavioral economics and the psychology of decisionmaking with technology to examine individuals’ debt, spending and savings behaviors. The data can then be used to provide guidance on making appropriate decisions around those areas, according to Cribbs. 

Through HelloWallet’s website and mobile app, employees can enter their savings goals and priorities, as well as their financial information. HelloWallet can then create budgets and analyze trends in financial behavior, leading to recommendations on how to make the most of financial opportunities such as 401(k) plans, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts or insurance.

“This partnership will allow us to provide more Americans with the guidance necessary to increase their monthly savings, pay off debt faster, and improve their use of health and retirement benefits. Employers win, too, as they need innovative solutions to help their work force manage the increasingly complex and self-directed benefits offered in the workplace,” says Matt Fellowes, HelloWallet founder and CEO.

More information on Vanguard can be found here. More information about HelloWallet can be found here.

Deals and People January 22, 2014

PIMCO Appoints Leadership Team

January 22, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – PIMCO, an investment management firm, has appointed a new portfolio management and executive leadership team.
Reported by

The appointments are happening in tandem with a second announcement that PIMCO CEO and co-chief investment officer Mohamed A. El-Erian will be leaving the firm in March, while PIMCO’s founder, William H. Gross, will continue to serve as the firm’s chief investment officer.

“The firm’s new leadership team embodies PIMCO’s culture and values, and it reflects the strength and depth of our talent in both portfolio management and business management,” says Gross. “With this team to lead us forward, PIMCO is in great hands.”

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The portfolio management leadership appointments include Andrew Balls and Daniel Ivascyn. Balls will serve as a deputy chief investment officer. He is currently a managing director in PIMCO’s London office, a member of the firm’s investment committee and head of European portfolio management. He joined PIMCO in 2006. He has 15 years of investment experience and holds a bachelor’s degree from Oxford University and a master’s degree from Harvard University.

Ivascyn will also serve as a deputy chief investment officer. He is currently a managing director in PIMCO’s Newport Beach, California office, as well as head of mortgage credit portfolio management and a lead portfolio manager for PIMCO’s alternatives investment strategies. He joined PIMCO in 1998. He has 22 years of investment experience and holds an M.B.A. in analytic finance from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. Ivascyn also holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Occidental College.

The business management leadership appointments include Douglas Hodge, Jay Jacobs and Craig Dawson. Hodge with serve as the firm’s CEO. He is currently a managing director in the Newport Beach office and PIMCO’s chief operating officer. Previously, he led the firm’s Asia-Pacific region from the Tokyo office. He joined PIMCO in 1989. He has 28 years of investment experience and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College.

Jacobs will serve as president of the firm. He is currently a managing director in the Newport Beach office and the head of talent management globally. Previously, he was the head of PIMCO’s German business, based in Munich. He joined PIMCO in 1998. He has 19 years of investment experience and holds an M.B.A. from Georgetown University. He received his undergraduate degree from Washington University, in St. Louis.

Dawson will serve as head of strategic business management. He is currently a managing director and head of PIMCO Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, from his base in the Munich office. He is also head of product management for Europe. In his new role, Dawson will relocate to the Newport Beach office. He joined PIMCO in 1999. He has 19 years of investment experience and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego.

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