News

February 13th, 2013

Till Death or Retirement Do Us Part

The Gap Couples Face When Planning for the Financial Happily Ever After

(Hingham, MA) – Love isn’t all you need when it comes to finances and planning for the happily-ever-after of retirement. Less than 40 percent of couples share a common vision of retirement, according to retirement and savings trends research firm Hearts & Wallets.

Hearts & Wallets research[1] finds only 38 percent of couples engage in retirement planning together. Yet, one in five worry their spouse or partner may not be able to manage finance alone. Complicating matters is that women tend to be more anxious in general about financial matters than men, according to the Hearts & Wallets Insight Module, Understanding Women Investors: Breadwinners, Homemakers, Mothers and More, the latest report from Hearts & Wallets’ 2012/2013 Investor Quantitative Panel. This annual survey of more than 5,400 U.S. households tracks specific segments and product trends and is both a proprietary database and series of syndicated reports. Read More→

November 14th, 2012

DCIO Market Strong & Growing, to Top $3 Trillion by 2017

Managers Adding 0/0 Shares, Leveraging Resources to Keep the Flows Coming

(Hingham, MA) – Growth of the defined contribution investment-only (DCIO) market continues to outpace that of the DC plan market overall. Today, 46% of DC assets are investment-only versus just 36% a decade ago. Hearts & Wallets projects the share of IO managers will reach 49% in 2017. This is just one finding from Hearts & Wallets’ latest in-depth study of the DCIO market, The State of DCIO Distribution: 2013—Adapting to, and Capitalizing on, Industry Change (formerly the Sway Research study).

Today, DCIO assets total $2.2 trillion, while the total DC market is $4.9 trillion. Hearts & Wallets projects DCIO assets will be $3.1 trillion at year-end 2017, while assets in DC plans will reach $6.2 trillion. Hearts & Wallets surveyed 29 asset managers for this year’s report—the eighth DCIO study authored by Hearts & Wallets’ principals dating back to 2004—and found that 4 out of 5 managers have experienced net DCIO inflows year-to-date. The strategic importance of DCIO sales and marketing is growing as this business is now responsible for 21% of firm-wide gross sales at the average asset manager, up from just 18% in 2009. Read More→

November 13th, 2012

What Middle-aged Investors Want: Control and Financial Independence

Investors Rate Firms on Service Quality; Preferences for Advisor and Online Servicing

(Hingham, MA) – Middle-aged Americans seek financial independence and control rather than a traditional retirement, according to new research by leading retirement and savings research firm Hearts & Wallets.

“Middle-aged investors, in the Accumulators life-stage, have different reasons to save for their golden years than what the financial services industry usually promotes,” Chris Brown, Hearts & Wallets principal, said. “They want to pay off mortgages. They want enough money to cover their healthcare and children’s college education. Smart firms will recognize these changing goals.”

The trend away from traditional retirement for Americans between ages 40 to 60 echoes older Americans, many of whom view stopping work as a risky move that might not be smart. As a result, older Americans perceive the concept of retirement to be extinct, as revealed in prior Hearts & Wallets research. The new Hearts & Wallets Explore report, “Reaching Accumulators in an Age of Anxiety: Achieving Strong Relationships through Messaging, Products, and Blending Live and Technology-delivered Service,” includes Accumulators with a minimum of $100,000 in investable household assets. The Explore multi-sponsor, multi-city focus groups provide qualitative insights into investor attitudes and motivations that shape future trends. The research builds on Hearts & Wallets’ annual quantitative survey of more than 5,400 U.S. households, which tracks segments and product trends and is both a proprietary database and series of syndicated reports. Read More→

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