Securities America Offers New Portfolio Management Service
A new portfolio management service offering asset allocation and fund identification models was launched in January by Securities America, an independent broker-dealer with nearly 1,600 financial advisors nationwide.
Exchange Traded Funds/Alpha (E/A) portfolios are "virtual baskets of stocks" that track established market indexes yet trade like a single share of stock, says Scott Cross, director of investment information services for Securities America, which is based in Omaha, Neb. They typically have low expense ratios, offer a broad diversification in investment, and are considered tax efficient because they typically generate fewer capital gains distributions when compared with actively managed mutual funds
E/A portfolios will be dynamically strategic, through a flexible individual investment selection process, while staying fairly strategic in their asset allocations. Scott says their overall objective is to create better risk-adjusted returns compared with Securities America's synthetic blends, and there will be policy constraints and restrictions imposed on the development of these portfolios in order to meet their objectives.
"These new portfolios offer our advisors more guidance in selected funds and selected allocations they can utilize in managing their client's assets in fee-based advisory accounts," Scott says.
For more information contact Scott Cross, Securities America, (402) 399-9111, ext. 2873.

Principal Financial Adds Options To HSA Plan
The Principal Financial Group is offering more than 35 mutual fund options to employers and employees participating in its combination high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA) program.
The funds are being offered through Princor Financial Services Corp., a member of The Principal, based in Des Moines, Iowa. Principal Bank plans to offer certificates of deposit for the HDHP/HSA product during the first part of 2005. These will enable members to invest funds for a set period of time at a higher rate of interest than the traditional HSA checking account, yet still benefit from backing by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
For more information about HDHPs and HSAs, visit www.principal.com/health.

Pareto Systems Offers Customized CRM Platform
Pareto Systems has combined its practice management strategies with a Web-based client relationship management system that offers a turnkey solution for financial advisors.
Pareto provides a customized platform for financial advisors that can be upgraded and enhanced to meet each advisor‚s needs. Pareto‚s Quickstart practice management process has been integrated into the platform. The Pareto platform guides advisors to implement proven best practices to help them attract more high-value clients.
Initial registration and set-up for up to five team members costs $495, plus a monthly fee of $95. For information, visit paretosystems.com.

Pershing Providing Access To Morningstar Analytics
Pershing LLC is providing broker-dealer customers access to Morningstar Fund Analytics through its NetExchange Pro platform.
Investment professionals using the platform will be able to access Morningstar‚s custom set of mutual fund analytical tools, including research and comprehensive information for the 16,500 mutual fund share classes in Morningstar‚s database; fund commentaries; and Morningstar Fund Hypotheticals, enabling illustration of investment scenarios for clients, such as investments/withdrawals, custom fees and rebalancing.
Pershing is a member of BNY Securities Group and a subsidiary of The Bank of New York. For more information on Pershing, visit www.pershing.com.

Companies Partner On Asset Management Services
Albridge Solutions (formerly StatementOne), is providing American Portfolios Financial Services with data aggregation services for accessing information on clients‚ held-away assets.
Using Albridge Data Aggregation, the companies will bring American Portfolio‚s client‚s held-away asset information into the Albridge Wealth Reporting Solution. Typical held-away asset information includes self-directed brokerage accounts, away asset management accounts, trust accounts, pension plans, 401(k)s and IRAs.
For more information on Albridge, visit www.albridge.com.