RIIA Creates Industry Principals for Retirement Products

The Retirement Income Industry Association has released a Statement of Principals for the industry when developing retirement income calculators, tools and illustrations that promote retirement income products and strategies.   “A significant number of retirement income projection models have been introduced into the marketplace over the years, and RIIA believes that many of these models may need improvements in disclosing key underlying assumptions or limitations,” said Richard Fullmer, chair of RIIA’s Methodologies Committee and senior portfolio strategist for Russell Investment Group.   The principals seek to promote the use of clear and effective modeling techniques, explanation and communications through complete disclosure of assumptions and the use of consistent terminology.   The methodologies committee is also going to provide a set of guidelines to the principals that will give guidance on how to meet the standards. Also, as set of “calibration points” will be devised by which model developers can compare their assumptions and results against the standards.