Mutual of Omaha Adds 401(k) Wholesalers
Mutual of Omaha subsidiary, Retirement Marketing Solutions, Inc. (RMS), has appointed two new retirement plan wholesalers, Charles Lutzow and John McCabe, in the Chicago and Houston areas, respectively. The move increases Mutual of Omaha’s reach in two of the largest cities in the country, Chicago and Houston.
The move “addresses an increasing demand for retirement services from small and midsize plan sponsors in Texas and Illinois,” said Chuck Lombardo, president and CEO of Retirement Marketing Solutions.Lutzow recently served as the founder and owner of CAL Financial Group, Inc. specializing in mergers and acquisitions and CAL Financial, Inc. an insurance and investment firm in the State of Illinois.
He holds the Series 6 Investment Company/Variable Contracts Products Limited Representative, 7 General Securities Representative, 24 General Securities Principal, 63 Uniform Securities Agent, and 65 Uniform Investment Adviser licenses.
Lutzow also has Life and Health licenses in the State of Illinois. He received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Chicago. He also holds professional designations of Chartered Financial Consultant and Certified Funds Specialist. McCabe most recently served as a senior 401(k) wholesaler for AXA-Equitable in Houston. Prior to that, he was the East Coast director of pensions for Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Retirement Services, where he specialized in selling/closing cash balance plans with 401(k) plans to law practices and physician groups.
McCabe began his career in 1984 with AXA-Equitable and held numerous upper management positions with the company before moving to Oppenheimer in 2004. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University. He has a General Securities Series 7 license and holds professional designations of Chartered Life Underwriter, Chartered Financial Consultant and Master of Science in Financial Services.
Jackson launches Portfolio Construction tool
Jackson National Life has launched a new Portfolio Construction Tool, an interactive online solution that helps advisers build customized investment portfolios. Jackson provides a wide range of investments within its variable annuity offering, with no asset allocation restrictions. The Portfolio Construction Tool helps advisers select the mix of subaccount options that best meet their clients’ retirement income needs.
The tool, which is available for appointed producers who register on www.jackson.com, aggregates historical performance information, subaccount analytics and educational materials. A variety of interactive filters allow advisers to screen investment options by asset class, portfolio manager, investment style, expenses and performance. Advisers can to marketing and educational materials, including fact sheets, brochures and videos.
Advisers can also save and edit individual proposals, create templates for future use, and generate summary reports to review with clients.
“Jackson’s product development philosophy has always been focused on investment freedom, choice and flexibility,” said Daniel Starishevsky, senior vice president of marketing for Jackson.
The Portfolio Construction Tool is the latest in a series of products and services for advisers. In October 2010, Jackson introduced LifeGuard Freedom Flex, the first customizable guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (GMWB). In 2007, Jackson introduced the Living Benefits Selection Center, which helps advisers identify the right living benefit for clients.
EBRI’s 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey: Working for Pay in Retirement
How many workers expect to work for pay after they retire?
The 2011 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) has consistently found that Workers are far more likely to expect to work for pay in retirement than retirees are to have actually worked, according to the 2011 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey. The age of workers planning to work for pay in retirement now stands at 74%, up from 70% in 2010.
The survey found:
• Retirees are far less likely to report having worked for pay in retirement than workers are to say they will work. Only 23% of retirees in the 2011 RCS say they worked for pay since they retired. Moreover, very few of those who have not worked for pay in retirement think it is likely that they will return to paid employment sometime in the future (2% very likely, 8% somewhat likely).
• Large majorities of retirees who worked in retirement in the 2010 RCS say reasons for doing that include wanting to stay active and involved (92%) and enjoying working (86%). However, almost all retirees who worked in retirement name at least one financial reason for doing so (90%), such as wanting money to buy extras (72%), a decrease in the value of their savings or investments (62%), needing money to make ends meet (59%), and keeping health insurance or other benefits (40%).
• Many workers are also planning to rely on income from employment to support them in retirement. Three-quarters of workers say that employment will provide them (and their spouse) with a major (24%) or minor (53%) source of income in retirement (77%) total, up from 68% in 2001, but statistically equivalent to 79% in 2009 and 77% in 2010).
Full details of the 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey are in the March 2011 EBRI Issue Brief and online at www.ebri.org/surveys/rcs/2011/ The RCS is conducted by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates. The RCS, now in its 21st year, is the longest-running annual retirement survey of its kind in the nation.
Nationwide finds value in business coaches
At Nationwide Financial Services, there’s apparently no contradiction between “business class” and “coach class.”
Nationwide’s top sales people can now receive training in coaching and mentoring from the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC). The insurer believes that coached helped increase variable annuity sales by 32% and first-year fixed life insurance sales by 70% in 2010.
The firm’s sales people can become Certified Business Coaches by participating in an 18-month program that involves 120 hours of in-class training, 500 hours of hands-on coaching practice, and 120 “oversight” hours in which they receive feedback from coaches who have already earned their certification.
Twenty-one sales leaders in the field and internal sales and service organizations have become Certified Business Coaches through the WABC program so far. The program was recently expanded to Nationwide’s public-sector retirement plans sales leadership.
The WABC is the first international professional association dedicated exclusively to business coaching and the only association of its kind to require advanced qualifications for membership.
Nonqualified deferred compensation plans help retain key workers: Principal
As the economy improves and key employees ponder outside offers, nonqualified deferred compensation plans can help retain them, according to a new white paper from the Principal Financial Group, How to Recruit, Retain & Retire Key Employees.
The findings are based on a study of nonqualified deferred compensation plan sponsors and plan participants conducted with Boston Research Group. Key findings include:
- Nearly one in five employers report nonqualified benefits have become more valuable to recruitment and retention efforts in the past year.
- Almost all employers (97%) with nonqualified plans in place say they will continue offering these benefits next year.
- Employees participating in nonqualified plans also say they value the plans to help reach their retirement goals. Nine out of 10 participants (91%) expect to maintain or increase deferrals in the coming year.
“Now is the time for employers to review their employee benefits, which offer a powerful bargaining chip when convincing employees to stay put,” said Gary Dorton, vice president of nonqualified benefits for the Principal Financial Group.
The study noted an increase in the number of mid-level managers participating in these plans (36% , up from 17%), suggesting nonqualified plans may be becoming a more mainstream benefit and no longer just for executives.
To view additional research and insight from The Principal, visit our Principal Research Center.
