Practice

NEW YORK—Putnam Investments unveiled a new website for its 401(k) plans Monday that keys investors into a monthly retirement income figure, rather than their existing balance or a retirement savings target.

401(k) investors aided by professional investment advice—be it in the form of a target-date default investment, managed accounts or bona fide online advice—earn nearly 2% more (186 basis points) than those who do not receive such help, according to a joint study by Hewitt Associates and Financial Engines.

Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch Wealth Management unit has launched a new U.S. marketing campaign, “help2retire_____,” to illustrate individuals’ evolving retirement priorities and personal aspirations. Budgeted at $20 million, it launched Monday and is scheduled to run through the end of April on broadcast network and national cable TV, as well as print and online consumer and trade magazines, including sister publication Financial Planning.

In helping the middle-class save for retirement, President Obama may have also given a boost to the annuities sector.

The White House plans to promote “the availability of annuities and other forms of guaranteed lifetime income, which transform savings into guaranteed future income, reducing the risks that retirees will outlive their savings or that their retirees’ living standards will be eroded by investment losses or inflation.”

Merrill Lynch is currently offering one of the top compensation deals on the Street.

Playing a role in preparing heirs is a key way for advisors to distinguish their businesses, be more visible among centers of influence, get client referrals and maintain heirs as clients.

Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ruled that the agreement for UBS to disclose the identities of 4,450 U.S.-based taxpayers to the IRS violates the country’s banking secrecy laws.

Stripping Rules Coming by July

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is considering a bill that would require mutual funds, pension plans and other large institutional investors to publicly reveal how they vote their proxies, to impose proper corporate governance on otherwise passive investors who, seemingly, don't vote in the fiduciary interest of their end investors.