To better help their participants address more complex financial needs and prepare for retirement, John Hancock Retirement has launched a dynamic investment feature available to new clients converting from an existing plan.
During plan conversion, participants typically are automatically invested in an age-appropriate target date fund (TDF) until they decide to manage their own investments or leave them in the default investment. With John Hancock Retirement’s dynamic retirement strategy, participants over an age set by the plan sponsor will be transitioned automatically from the TDF to the John Hancock Personalized Retirement Advice (Retirement Advice) managed account program, which uses Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s advice methodology.
When participants are early in their careers, the one-size-fits-all asset allocation of TDFs is generally sufficient to meet their needs. But as participants advance in their careers, their lives and financial circumstances are likely to change, requiring a more personalized investment strategy, the announcement explains.
“Managed account programs, such as Retirement Advice, are designed to provide customization and adapt to a participant’s evolving financial needs and goals,” John Hancock Retirement CEO Wayne Park stated. “Nearly 90 percent of our retirement plan participants recently said that professional management of their retirement investments and savings would positively impact them getting financially prepared for retirement. We’re pleased we can offer this solution for those who feel it will benefit their retirement readiness.”
John Hancock teamed up with Morningstar Investment Management to offer Retirement Advice, which is a comprehensive, professional portfolio management program that retirement savers in John Hancock-sponsored retirement plans can enroll in for more sophisticated portfolio management and construction.
“Our goal is to help people plan and save for retirement,” added Jack Barry, head of product development at John Hancock Retirement. “We’ve made Retirement Advice available to all our plans and found that participants who are enrolled in it are projected to replace an additional 20 percent of their income come retirement.”
