| Reconsidering Age-Based Communications Strategies | Michelle Jackson, a Broadridge vice president of
business strategy and development, who led the webinar on provider innovation
and retirement investor communication strategies, outlined ongoing trends in
digital plan communications and highlighted opportunities presented to plan
advisers and their sponsor clients through more robust communications programs.
Jackson said an emerging lesson is that improved communications are a
dependable pathway to improved plan performance, but “firms need to be great
across channels, whether we are talking about paper mailings, email or any
other traditional or digital channels.” In other words, Jackson said, being
effective in one communication channel is not enough to ensure success or plan
metric improvements.Read more > | Sandwich Generation Needs New Messages About Saving | When members of Generation X who are also
members of the ‘Sandwich Generation’—caring for aging parents and providing
financial support to children or paying for college—are told they need to save
more for their own retirement, they know that, but feel they can’t. “How to
prioritize all their financial goals is the number one question we get,” Joe
Ready, head of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust, said during a
Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) event. “If we say, ‘Let’s get started on
retirement,’ the number one objection is people can’t pay their day-to-day
bills.”Read more > | | Products, Deals & People | Investment Product Launches for the Week | Expanded institutional trading capabilities from
CAPIS and Invest ‘n Retire; a multi-asset income fund from Fidelity; and a
flexible QLAC from New York Life.Read more > | | Economic Events | Privately owned housing starts in August
were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,126,000, the Census Bureau
announced. This is 3.0% below the revised July estimate of 1,161,000, but is
16.6% above the August 2014 rate of 966,000. Single-family housing starts in
August were at a rate of 739,000; this is 3.0% below the revised July figure of
762,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was
381,000.
In the week ending September 12, the
advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment
insurance was 264,000, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week’s unrevised
level of 275,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average
was 272,500, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of
275,750.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage is 3.91%, up from 3.90% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The
average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.11%, up from
3.10%.
| | Market Mirror | Major U.S.
stock indices ended mostly lower Thursday after a volatile day in which the
Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates low. The Dow closed 65.21 points
(0.39%) lower at 16,674.74, while the NADAQ was up 4.71 points (0.10%) at
4,893.95, and the S&P 500 was down 5.11 points (0.16%) at 1,990.20. The
Russell 2000 closed 5.49 points (0.47%) higher at 1,180.69, and the Wilshire
5000 decreased 25.53 points (0.12%) to 21,007.72.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares traded, with 1.5 advancing issues for every declining issue.
On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands, with a 1.2 to 1 ratio of
advancers to decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note increased
29/32, bringing its yield down to 2.192%. The price of the 30-year Treasury
bond climbed 1 14/32, decreasing its yield to 3.010%.
| | Compliance | Is Your Plan Adviser Helping You with Compliance? | “It is hard for [retirement plan] sponsors to
keep a handle on all they have to do from a compliance standpoint,” says Nancy
Gerrie, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago. “In my 25 years in
the business, I have seen the number of duties for plan sponsors grow
exponentially, particularly on the Department of Labor side and with
investments. Even our most sophisticated clients have a hard time keeping up,”
she tells PLANSPONSOR. But, there is help for plan sponsors, if they know where
to find it.Read more > | | Small Talk | ON
THIS DATE: In 1793,
U.S. President George Washington laid the actual cornerstone of the U.S.
Capitol. In 1851, the first issue of
“The New York Times” was published. In 1927, Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System made its debut with
its network broadcast over 16 radio stations. The name was later changed to
CBS. In 1947, the United States Air
Force was established as a separate military branch by the National Security
Act. In 1955, the “Ed Sullivan
Show” began on CBS-TV. The show had been “The Toast of the Town”
since 1948. In 2003, Robert Duvall
received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!
| How about some nifty entertainment while you
wait for your food at a restaurant?Read more > | This little girl explains why she is NOT a
princess. I mean, how can she be, with just one sparkly?Read more > | In Watson, Louisiana, a man
driving a truck pulling a horse trailer stopped in a daiquiri shop, and when he
left, he decided it was safer to leave the truck there and ride the horse home.
A deputy responded to complaints about the man riding his horse on the highway.
She couldn’t arrest him for DW.I, so she ticketed him for being dru.nk in
public. The man told a local ABC News reporter, “When you get a little too much
to drink, why not ride a horse? It’s safer that way. The horse knows the way home.”
In Twin Falls, Idaho, a woman
called police saying she had arrived home to find her back door open and her
house ransacked. There was an unfamiliar cell phone on her bed, and an
unfamiliar car parked behind her house. As officers were in the house investigating,
a woman drove up behind the unfamiliar car and dropped off a man. The man told
officers he had let a friend borrow the car and the keys got locked inside.
However, the car keys were also found in the house, and since his story didn’t
add up, the man was arrested.
| New Zealand energy company Energy Online made a prank
video in which solicitors are scared off by a live door knocker that yells at
them.Read more > | In South Union Township,
Pennsylvania, a 46-year-old man went to a Walmart and removed a wireless
phone from a shelf using a knife. He went to an aisle in another department and
tried to open the phone packaging. However, according to CBS Pittsburgh, in his
attempt, he stabbed himself in the arm and began bleeding excessively. Store
employees noticed and tried to approach him, but he left the store. The man
drove straight to the hospital, where police were able to catch up with him and
arrest him for theft.
In Whitefield,
Manchester, England, video footage at a couple’s home shows a man dousing
their van with gasoline. The video shows an explosion, and apparently the
arsonist did not stand back far enough, because he was seen running from the
flames with his arms on fire. According to the Bury Times, police searched the
emergency departments at local hospitals and found the suspect.
Have a great weekend,
everyone! | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
|