YOU HAVE FOUND OUR OLD WEB SITE. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR NEW AND IMPROVED SITE!       October 27, 2001 Morningstar to Target 403(b) Market Morningstar is planning to target the 403(b) K-12 market next year, said Mike Skinner, business development v.p. for online services at Morningstar. Skinner noted that due to feedback from 403(b) clients, Morningstar is working on a service to offer K-12 participants a set of tools to assist in their decision-making tasks. "Morningstar advises participants to keep a long-term perspective," said Skinner. "It's also critical to understand how a participants' own portfolio performs in aggregate." Skinner emphasized the importance of offering advice tools in the current investment climate. "Now is the time for people to proceed with caution," said Skinner.   October 9, 2001 Fidelity Targets K-12 Public School Market Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company has launched Fidelity Advisor 403(b), targeting specifically K-12 public school employees. Don Holborn, executive v.p. of retirement, said it decided to introduce the strategy because the K-12 market is one of the fastest growing segments in the 403(b) universe and lacks a dominant player. He said he is not aware of any other 403(b) services targeting specifically the K-12 public school market.   There are about 4.7 million K-12 participants eligible for the plan, said Holborn. "We've had tremendous interest from our clients to bring this product to the K-12 market." Bill Thompson, senior v.p. of retirements, said that the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which allows participants to increase their contribution amount, and the addition of the retirement catch-up clause, also make the market very attractive. "With public school pensions typically not providing K-12 employees with the income necessary to support a comfortable retirement and with only 40% of eligible employees participating in a 403(b) plan, ensuring they have enough for retirement is a major concern for many of America's K-12 employees," said Thompson.   Holborn added that the strategy was introduced at the end of last month and the responses from its clients have been "tremendously positive." Fidelity Advisor 403(b) features 47 Fidelity Advisor Funds, easy access via its Web site or the voice response system, loan and hardship withdrawal options, and advisor support material such as marketing and educational materials. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services provides investment management services to over 4,200 financial institutions, including wirehouses, banks and insurance companies. It had about $192.6 billion in total assets under management at the end of July. [Defined Contribution News]   June 9, 2001 Keystone State DC Legislation Faces Opposition Pennsylvania State Sen. Gibson Armstrong and the state's appropriation committee are facing difficulty bringing two defined contribution plan bills to the senate floor due to opposition from the state's teacher's association. The bills would create a 403(b) plan as an option for the state's 193,000-life $50 billion Public School Employees Retirement System, and a second bill would create a similar plan for political appointees and other short-term employees. Chris Latta, a legislative aid for Senator Armstrong, was unsure why the teachers would oppose the bill but surmised that it could be due to lack of understanding. He added that some of the teachers believe that the new bill would drop their defined benefit plan and replace it with a defined contribution plan. "All we are doing is adding a defined contribution option," he said. One teacher even sent a letter to Sen. Armstrong stating that he "keep his hands off their pensions." The letter stated: "As a constituent, I am writing to urge your opposition to Senate Bills 486 and 487, which would create a shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pensions." Latta added that Sen. Armstrong's office and the Pennsylvania State Education Association are attempting to schedule a meeting to smooth out the negative preconceptions but is having difficulty lining one up. He said he made repeated calls to the PSEA but has been rebuffed thus far. "It's kind of tough to educate someone about something when they won't even want to meet with you." He added that they promised to meet with him sometime in the near future but did not schedule a date yet. Latta added that it would be difficult for the DC bills to get passed this session, which will close at the end of June and reconvene in mid-September. "It will take a quite a bit of heavy lifting," he said, adding that it is difficult to gage when the bill could be passed. Michael Bortner, director of government relations for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said it is still studying the bill that could create a 403(b) plan and was unaware that some of the teachers have been sending letters opposing the bill. "We do not want to see any legislation pass that would in any way have a negative impact to our defined benefit plan," he said, declining to elaborate. [Defined Contribution News]   April 9, 2001 Health System Taps Prudential, GBS Retirement Susquehanna Health System has selected Prudential Retirement Services and GBS Retirement Services to provide bundled services to the sponsor's $25 million combined 401(k) and 403(b) plans. A spokeswoman at Susquehanna said that Prudential, which has an alliance with GBS, was selected because of the firm's commitment to providing quality education. CitiStreet provided the plan with bundled services, she said, adding that Susquehanna launched the search for lower fees and better services. The plan worked with a consultant she declined to name, but said that the sponsor received nine rfps before deciding on Prudential. She explained that local GBS representatives provide on-site support that includes enrollment meetings and investment education seminars. She added that Prudential offers daily-valuation recordkeeping services, a voice response unit and Internet accessibility. The Williamsport, Pa., health system includes Divine Providence Hospital, Muncy Valley Hospital and The Williamsport Hospital & Medical Center, the spokeswoman said, adding that the plans total 3,000 participants. [Defined Contribution News]   March 12, 2001 Lincoln Taps MetLife Marketing Pro Kimberly Youngerman Kimberly Youngerman has joined Lincoln Financial Group as the regional v.p. for the South Pacific region, according to a spokeswoman. Youngerman joins seven other regional v.p.s on the newly created business development team that markets the Lincoln Alliance Program, which targets mid- to large-size defined contribution plans in the public and private sectors that offer 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans. Youngerman will call directly on plan sponsors and consultants in her region to establish new relationships, according to John Arant, senior v.p. and managing director of institutional sales, and to whom Youngerman reports.   The program offers plan sponsors Lincoln Financial's retirement products and services, including approximately 200 mutual fund families, a self-directed brokerage option and several lifestyle funds. Prior to joining the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based firm, Youngerman served as marketing director with Metropolitan Life Insurance for eight years. [Defined Contribution News]   Febuary 20, 2001 Lousiana Teachers Consider Defined Contribution Plan The Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana is considering the creation of a new defined contribution plan in response to two separate pieces of failed legislation proposed in the 1999 regular Legislative Session. Graig Luscombe, assistant director, said that the retirement system was "vehemently opposed to both pieces of legislation," authored by Reps. William Daniel and Victor Stelly, because either would have created a DC plan in which all new system members would have been required to participate with no other available option. In response to these attempts, the system's Board of Trustees has requested that staff members formulate a DC plan proposal that could be submitted during the next session of the Louisiana Legislature, Luscombe explained. A new plan would be available to any of the remaining 82,000 system members hired after July 1, 1999.   A new DC plan would coexist with the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) currently utilized by 53% of employees of state-run institutions of higher learning, such as the Louisiana State University system. Participants in the ORP are no longer members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, having waived their membership to participate in the ORP.   Luscombe said a DC plan proposal would be submitted to the board's Legislative Committee at its next meeting in early March, but declined to say how the new plan could be administered. He noted that the board attached two caveats to any DC plan proposals: some guaranteed benefit must be included; and any developed proposal that receives board approval must be submitted to the state legislature at the request of the system's membership. [Defined Contribution News]   January 16, 2001 MassMutual To Launch 403(b) Product With Non-Proprietary Funds MassMutual Financial Group is planning to launch its first variable annuity for the 403(b) marketplace to feature a lineup of non-proprietary funds. According to DCN sister publication, Fund Marketing Alert, the Artistry variable annuity is slated for a second-quarter launch and will offer funds from OppenheimerFunds, American Century Investments, Fidelity Investments, INVESCO, Janus, T. Rowe Price Associates, Franklin Templeton Investments, Deutsche Bank Asset Management, David L. Babson & Co., MML (Massachusetts Mutual Life) Funds and Calvert Group. The Artistry annuity is a tax-sheltered annuity that will target teachers and hospital workers, and requires a $500 investment minimum. Currently, the company's 403(b) offering only features funds from OppenheimerFunds and MML, which are both wholly-owned subsidiaries of MassMutual.   "We had a request and need for more products. Our growth rate was up 15.5% last year and we want to do the same this year," said Richard Frazer, annuity specialist for MassMutual. The total number of investment subaccounts will be increased from seven to 40 as a result of the new relationships. Frazer added that the company would have added the funds sooner if not for a computer delay. MassMutual had to prepare its computer system to handle the large number of subaccounts and then wait for approval of the product in all 50 states. Artistry will be sold by 5,000 financial representatives across all 50 states. Frazer said he wants to increase the variable annuity sales force by 25% by the end of this year. [Defined Contribution News]   January 1, 2001 Lincoln Forges National Sales Team Lincoln Financial Group, in an effort to ramp up its assets under management, has created a new sales team to cover the mid- to large-sized defined contribution plans in both the public and private sectors. According to a firm spokeswoman, the team will be led by John Arant, the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based firm's managing director of institutional sales. The new team consists of seven newly-hired regional v.p.s and two recently promoted sales executives: Bill Boarts, a v.p. with ICMA Retirement Corp. before it restructured (DCN, 7/17), will cover the Great Lakes region; James Noack, recently hired from MBM Advisors, will cover the Southwest; Michael Pratico, president of Atlantic Benefits, has joined the firm to cover the Northeast, and David Russo, an executive with MetLife Resources Group, will cover the Southeast.   Additionally, Jason Stanicek, an executive with Renaissance Worldwide, has been hired to sell to plans in the Mid-Atlantic region; Albert Tharin was hired from Sun America to cover the Midwest, and John Sproule, an executive also with MetLife Resources, has been hired to serve as national sales director. Additionally, Jonathan Paris was promoted to regional v.p., while Troy Guerrette was promoted to cover the Northwest.   The new team will sell all of Lincoln's defined contribution products and services, including roughly 200 mutual fund families, stable value, GICs, a self-directed brokerage option and several lifestyle funds. The firm will target 401(k) plans, 457 plans, and 403(b) funds.   According to one senior Lincoln executive, the firm previously had a small sales group that sold to small-plans and the healthcare market. "We put this new team in place because we wanted to find people that were better at going out and finding new cases," he said. "Also, we found that there is a niche in the 401(k) corporate end of the market for us." [Defined Contribution News]     Home | Disclaimer | © 2001 403(b)wise. All rights reserved.