Financial Engines
CITISTREET ROLLOVER IRA ADVICE SERVICE AND CITISTREET ADVISORS TO BE POWERED BY FINANCIAL ENGINES®
CitiStreet Offers Investment Advice by Phone and Online To Investors Leaving a Benefits Plan
BOSTON and PALO ALTO, Calif., April 23, 2001 – Financial Engines, Inc. and CitiStreet today announced that CitiStreet's rollover IRA advisory services will be powered by Financial Engines. CitiStreet will offer access to the Financial Engines advisory service through the CitiStreet Advisor Account to provide goal-based investment advice and retirement planning online or through CitiStreet financial advisors on the telephone.
The CitiStreet Advisor Account is a self-directed online brokerage account offered through an alliance between CitiStreet and CSFBdirect. The account offers a broad array of investment options including stocks, bonds, CDs and more than 9,000 mutual funds. The service helps customers determine a rollover IRA strategy and provides advice and monitoring of investors' portfolios as they plan for retirement.
In addition to the self-directed online service offered through the CitiStreet Advisor Account, CitiStreet, in conjunction with Salomon Smith Barney, also offers a full-service, one-on-one brokerage relationship to retirement plan participants. A select group of Salomon Smith Barney financial consultants, specially trained in retirement and estate planning, work directly with plan participants to help plan and execute their retirement programs, including rollovers.
"By creating a seamless and integrated rollover IRA offering that can be opened and funded in one phone call, CitiStreet continues to help individuals plan for a successful retirement even after they leave a company-sponsored 401(k) plan," said Ray Martin, president, CitiStreet Advisors LLC. "Financial Engines' forecasting and advice capabilities allow us to provide high quality, personalized advice to every employee who leaves a plan and the ability to connect individuals with a Salomon Smith Barney Financial Consultant who offers individualized financial planning, ensuring we can offer services to meet the needs of almost any individual."
Offering advisory services is critical to increasing the retention of customer assets, according to a report published in November by Cerulli Associates. Rollover IRAs allow investors who are changing jobs or retiring to transfer money from an existing defined contribution plan without paying taxes. Nearly 9 percent of Americans' $2 trillion in 401(k) and other defined contribution assets will be rolled every year for the next 10 years, with a majority invested in rollover IRAs.
"When employees leave a company and roll over funds, they want personalized advice they can trust to help them re-invest their life savings," said Brian Samuels, vice president of workplace advisory services for Financial Engines. "Advice is a key link in building a trusted relationship across an individual's entire wealth span, and CitiStreet is a leader in providing comprehensive rollover services."
Customers choosing to open a CitiStreet Advisor Account will be offered a free Financial Engines Forecast on the phone through a CitiStreet financial advisor, showing them the likelihood of reaching their financial goals for retirement. Analyzing the entire portfolio, Financial Engines shows how much income a participant is likely to have in retirement. The customer can then elect to subscribe to obtain advice over the telephone through a CitiStreet financial advisor or to get advice online through Financial Engines. To enhance the Forecast, Financial Engines generates specific investment recommendations based on the universe of mutual funds in the CitiStreet Advisor Account and shows how recommendations could impact future retirement outcomes. After completing a session, customers can implement investment recommendations online or on the phone through a CitiStreet financial advisor.
CitiStreet clients who qualify for the one-on-one brokerage relationship through Salomon Smith Barney are offered the widest selection of investments within their Salomon Smith Barney self-directed IRA, including individual stocks and bonds, mutual funds and professionally managed portfolios. All clients are offered a complimentary financial plan, which includes retirement planning, asset allocation, education funding and estate planning.
About CitiStreet
Jointly owned (50/50) by State Street Corp. and Citigroup, CitiStreet provides a superior range of products and services for defined contribution, defined benefit and health and welfare plans. CitiStreet is recognized as the second largest retirement plan record-keeper and one of the nation's largest global benefits providers, administering approximately $200 billion in assets and serving about 6.5 million plan participants. For more information, visit the company Web site at www.citistreetonline.com.
About Financial Engines
Financial Engines is a leading provider of investment advice services to the workplace and to financial institutions. Financial Engines enables employers, financial professionals and financial organizations such as fund companies, brokerages and banks to offer consistent, high-quality, personalized investment advice on a cross-enterprise basis. Founded by Economics Nobel Laureate William F. Sharpe, Financial Engines works with its customers to help their clients make better investment decisions to meet their financial goals. Financial Engines was founded in 1996 and is located in Palo Alto, Calif. For more information, visit Financial Engines' web site at www.financialengines.com.
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Financial Engines® is a registered trademark of Financial Engines, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. All advisory services are provided by Financial Engines Advisors LLC, a federally registered investment advisor.