Product Watch: Transition-planning site for RIAs is launched

Business Transitions LLC in Portland, Ore., has released RIA Transitions, the fourth in a line of online transition-planning sites. It was developed in response to the increase in popularity of FP Transitions among registered investment advisers. FP Transitions will continue to serve independent registered representatives.

RIA Transitions was developed specifically to meet the needs of a growing population of retiring RIAs. It offers a confidential listing system, an automated e-mail notification feature, detailed and industry-specific form contracts, closing/escrow services and personalized guidance from start to finish.

RIA Transitions also provides to practitioners an open market to sell portions of their books of business, an increasingly popular succession-planning tool. Registered investment advisers have the unique ability to evaluate their books of business and sell less profitable portions or those clients who no longer match the seller’s business model.

Forward picking up two Pictet funds

* Forward Management LLC in San Francisco has announced plans to acquire the contract to manage two mutual funds, the Pictet International Small Companies Fund and the Pictet Global Emerging Markets Fund, offered by London-based Pictet International Management Ltd., an affiliate of Geneva, Switzerland-based Pictet & Cie. The existing portfolio management teams from Pictet will continue as subadvisers for Forward Management.

The Pictet International Small Companies Fund will become the Forward International Small Companies Fund. The Pictet Global Emerging Markets Fund will become the Forward Global Emerging Markets Fund. These changes are contingent upon shareholder approval.

The funds will have a $2,500 minimum investment ($1,000 for a retirement account) and will be available on the major mutual fund platforms, such as Schwab OneSource and Fidelity FundsNetwork.

MetLife issues guide to income annuities

* MetLife Retirement and Savings in New York has released a guidebook, “The Road to Retirement Security: Creating Income With Annuities.” It helps to explain some of the hazards that prevent a secure retirement – such as inflation, market and longevity risks. It also addresses questions about income annuities, and highlights guarantees associated with them while offering guidelines on how to choose the right product.

N.Y. Life adds site in Vietnamese

* New York Life Insurance Co. has launched a Vietnamese-language website (newyorklifeviet.com) to ensure that U.S.-based policyholders and the public in the Vietnamese community can access financial information in Vietnamese.

This resource for insurance and financial information provides frequently updated news and details about the company’s extensive array of products and services.

The website’s features include information in Vietnamese about: New York Life’s history, mission and corporate values; the benefits of working with a New York Life agent; and the company’s wide variety of insurance and financial products. There is also a recruiting section, providing information about career opportunities for Vietnamese-American professionals to join New York Life as agents and managers, as well as interactive online forms and e-mail addresses for submitting questions and requests.

For those who do not have Internet access, the company maintains a toll-free Vietnamese-language hotline, (877) NYL-VIET, for policyholders and potential clients to direct inquiries.

Also, New York Life has introduced its products for the 412(i) defined-benefit-plan market. A 412(i) plan allows small-business owners to make retirement plan contributions that are generally tax deductible and accumulate retirement benefits for the owners and their employees that are not subject to stock market volatility.

With a 412(i) plan, the business owner may make potentially greater tax-deductible contributions than under traditional defined-benefit plans. Plan benefits are free of market risk and are guaranteed by the claims-paying ability of New York Life, as long as premiums are paid on time. Administration is usually simpler and less expensive than for a traditional defined-benefit plan, since 412(i) plans are exempt from minimum-funding requirements.

Franklin fund open to all investors

* Franklin Templeton Investments in San Mateo, Calif., has introduced Class A, B and C shares of the Franklin Mutual Recovery Fund, making it open to all retail investors. The fund initially was available to existing Mutual Series Class Z shareholders and those qualifying to invest in adviser-class shares.

The fund has a minimum initial investment of $10,000, and the minimum for subsequent investments is $1,000. It is a continuously offered closed-end fund, often referred to as an “interval fund.”

Investors may purchase shares on a daily basis, but shares cannot be redeemed daily.

Instead, the fund intends to make an offer to purchase 5% to 25% of the outstanding shares at net asset value on a quarterly basis. No secondary market is expected to develop for the shares.

Morgan Stanley adds liquidity funds

* Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. in New York is creating seven portfolios as a part of its Morgan Stanley Institutional Liquidity Funds series – the Money Market Portfolio, the Prime Portfolio, the Government Portfolio, the Government Securities Portfolio, the Treasury Portfolio, the Treasury Securities Portfolio and the Tax-Exempt Portfolio.

Each of the funds will strive to maintain a stable net asset value of $1 a share. Both the Money Market Portfolio and the Prime Portfolio wll invest in liquid, high-quality, U.S. dollar-denominated money market instutions, while the Government Portfolio will invest exclusively in obligations of the U.S. government and its agencies.

The Government Securities Portfolio will invest in U.S. Treasury obligations and securities exempt from state income tax, while the Treasury Portfolio will invest exclusively in U.S. Treasury obligations and repurchase agreements collaterized by those securities.

The Treasury Securities Portfolio will invest exclusively in U.S. Treasury obligations.

The Tax-Exempt Portfolio will invest at least 80% of its assets in short-term municipal obligations whose interest is exempt from federal income taxes and isn’t subject to the federal alternative-minimum tax.

Each portfolio will carry an advisory fee of 0.15%, a 0.25% fee for other expenses and a shareholder administration fee of 0.1%.

Eaton Vance tweaks two funds

* Eaton Vance Management in Boston is expanding two of its mutual funds.

Eaton Vance Information Age Fund will encompass all growth companies and change its name to Eaton Vance Global Growth Fund.

The limitation that 80% of the fund be invested in “information-age” companies will be eliminated.

Eaton Vance Balanced Fund will have the ability to also invest in Eaton Vance’s large-cap value portfolio.