Product Watch: Schwab launches customized retirement advice

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. in San Francisco has announced that it will offer comprehensive retirement advice at no additional charge to participants in defined-contribution plans.

The offering will be available to participants in plans serviced by Schwab Retirement Plan Services Inc. Participants will have access to customized advice either online, by phone or in person, including specific recommendations regarding investment fund choices.

Participants will also have the option to elect automatic account re-balancing.

The advice will be provided by a third party, GuidedChoice of San Jose, Calif.

Life insurance in a few clicks

* Minnesota Life Insurance Co. in St. Paul has unveiled a real-time insurance underwriting response service.

The system allows employees of the client companies Minnesota Life insures to apply online for life insurance coverage and receive an answer in real time for coverage through a proprietary website that is accessible from their place of employment.

Participants complete an online health questionnaire, attach their electronic signatures and submit the evidence-of-insurability form through a secure connection. The applicant receives a reply in about 60 seconds. This technology completely eliminates the paper application process, Minnesota Life says.

Investment firm eyes untapped talent

* Bivium Capital Partners LLC in San Francisco has launched Bivium Capital, an investment management boutique that provides investment management and investment advisory services to public and private-plan sponsors, corporations, and wealthy individuals and families.

Bivium Capital’s goal is to identify, hire and foster the growth of promising money managers that are underutilized or undiscovered. The firm creates managed accounts and fund-of-funds products. Bivium Capital will hire managers that exhibit specific organizational characteristics, including: small, boutique-type style; limited institutional relationships; sound, predominantly employee-owned operations; strong risk-adjusted returns; and most importantly, a repeatable investment process.

Bivium’s proprietary investment process begins with idea generation and manager research, incorporates portfolio construction and continues with a proprietary monitoring process. The firm employs regimented quantitative research followed by a three-step qualitative evaluation during its manager selection process.

Portfolio construction aims to achieve smoother returns and better risk-adjusted performance than that provided by a single core manager. Monitoring requires daily pricing and valuations so Bivium can provide transparency to clients.

Risk monitoring is performed daily. In addition, managers undergo a comprehensive analysis each month that reviews performance, portfolio characteristics and holdings, and material changes at the firm.

Three-step process for retirement plan

* The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (U.S.A.) in Boston has introduced a retirement planning program to help fulfill the retirement goals of 401(k) plan participants.

Manulife USA has implemented a three-step process to make it easier for 401(k) participants to set personal retirement goals and make informed decisions that will help them to achieve them.

Using a new website, improved quarterly statements and an annual review tool, Manulife USA helps participants focus on four key retirement planning questions: How much will my retirement cost? How much do I need to contribute to pay for it? How should I allocate my contributions? How am I doing?

After entering some basic personal information on the website, Manulife401k.com, participants are prompted to select from one of five potential retirement lifestyles that were developed using census, demographic and consumer behavior information.

Next, the user takes a short risk quiz before being presented with a personalized retirement action plan with suggested monthly contribution amounts.

Once their plans are developed, participants can regularly monitor their progress through this site on a personalized home page. Manulife USA created this approach to simplify the retirement planning process for 401(k) plan participants, plan sponsors and their consultants.

Franklin expands muni-bond funds

* Franklin Templeton Distributors Inc. in San Mateo, Calif., will expand its municipal-bond-fund product line with the launch of its first shorter-term-maturity tax-free-income-fund offerings: Franklin Federal Limited-Term Tax-Free Income Fund, Franklin California Limited-Term Tax-Free Income Fund and Franklin New York Limited-Term Tax-Free Income Fund.

The three new funds will invest in investment-grade municipal securities and will maintain average weighted maturities of five years or less.

The funds’ managers will select securities they believe will provide the best balance between risk and return within each fund’s range of allowable investments. They will typically follow a buy-and-hold strategy, holding securities for income purposes rather than trading for capital gains.

Each fund’s dividends are exempt from federal income tax, while the California fund’s dividends are also exempt from California state income tax, and the New York fund’s dividends are exempt from state and New York City personal income taxes.

Jackson National adds universal life policy

* Jackson National Life Insurance Co. in Lansing, Mich., has launched JNL Generations UL, a flexible universal life product offering guaranteed lifetime protection.

Generations is the latest phase of an continuing initiative by the company to revitalize its life insurance business.

The product offers clients a guaranteed minimum death benefit and a no-lapse provision covering a period based on the premiums paid.

In mid-June, the company introduced JNL Protector, a convertible term life product, and has recently added key personnel to its development and distribution teams.

Clients living beyond age 100 will have the option of receiving continuous in-force coverage from Generations. In addition, clients may also purchase a companion term policy at a savings relative to purchasing stand-alone coverage.

Using a new application processing system, Jackson has set a new benchmark in customer service by completing processing for nearly half of its applicants in 14 days.

In addition, Jackson has provided full underwriting for 25% of its life applicants in seven days.

Generations replaces UL Two, which provided no-lapse coverage to age 80.

Lockwood adds fund wrap program

* Lockwood Advisors Inc., a Malvern, Pa.-based subsidiary of The Bank of New York Co. Inc., has added a mutual fund wrap program to its expanded wealth advisory platform for independent financial advisers.

Lockwood’s investment advisory services group will serve as portfolio manager on the program, which is driven by Lockwood Investment Strategies, a proprietary research model that provides asset allocation and fund or money manager recommendations across the risk-return spectrum.

Derived from Lockwood’s capital markets analysis and integrated with its money manager research, the Lockwood Investment Strategies are long-term macro-strategies that combine asset allocation, style allocation and tax management advice for investors with different objectives.

ICON Capital seeks investors

* New York-based ICON Capital Corp. has announced the commencement of the offering of ICON Income Fund Ten LLC, or ICON Ten.

Structured as a limited-liability company, ICON Ten is offering $150 million in shares. The minimum investment is $5,000 for individuals, and $3,000 for individual retirement accounts and other qualified plans. Investors must meet the minimum suitability requirements of a net worth of $60,000, plus an annual income of $60,000 or a net worth of $225,000.

ICON Ten will seek to acquire equipment subject to leases in order to create an asset portfolio that is highly diversified by industry, equipment type, lessee and expiry dates in order to reduce risk.

ICON Income Funds acquire equipment for marine vessels, commercial aircraft and railroads, as well as telecommunications and technological equipment.