Month: August 2020

Changes to Securities Market Value Calculation on Wealthscape

August 26, 2020

Starting with the September release of Wealthscape℠ and Wealthscape Investor℠, Total Securities Market Value – a value on Account Balances – will no longer include the Core Sweep/Fund balance in its calculation. The reason for this change is that including the Core Sweep/Fund balance in the Total Securities Market Value calculation overstates the Total Securities Market Value between trade date (TD) and settlement date (SD) when there is a pending “buy” in the account.

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW IMPORTANT NOTICE 20W-176 IN ITS ENTIRETY

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Morningstar SmartInvestor: Value Investing – When History May Not be Enough

August 26, 2020

Finance professors are historians. Because their research must withstand tests of statistical significance, it typically is conducted over prolonged time periods. Consequently, they also tend to distrust growth stocks. The broad view informs them that today’s champions become tomorrow’s also-rans. Competitors arise, while winners grow complacent. CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING MORNINGSTAR’S ARTICLE

PLEASE NOTE: This article is provided for your information only. It is not approved for use with consumers.

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ESI Brokerage Accounts – eDelivery Initiative and Raffle

August 26, 2020

As communicated last week in Operations Field Notice 2020-30, ESI is embarking on an initiative to collect email addresses and increase e-delivery adoption, helping your clients avoid the NFS Paper Statement charge scheduled for 2021.

To increase adoption of e-delivery, ESI is sponsoring a raffle for both registered representatives (“RRs”) and non-registered fingerprinted persons (“NRFs”)! Click here  for raffle parameters and prize information.

To assist you and your staff in participating in this initiative, ESI will automatically deliver a Wealthscape report through the automated alerts system this Friday, and on the 1st of each month through the duration of the entry period. The “Email Address of Record” report will display your current Brokerage Book of Business and itemize all accounts, their current email address information, and their eDelivery election status. If logged into Wealthscape, you can simply click on the hyperlink within the secure email to launch your report.

For any questions on this report or the ongoing eDelivery initiative, please contact our service desk at 1-800-344-7437.

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ESI Brokerage Accounts – eDelivery Initiative and Raffle

August 18, 2020

As communicated earlier this week in Operations Field Notice 2020-30, ESI is embarking on an initiative to collect email addresses and increase e-delivery adoption, helping your clients avoid the NFS Paper Statement charge scheduled for 2021.

To increase adoption of e-delivery, ESI is sponsoring a raffle for both registered representatives (“RRs”) and non-registered fingerprinted persons (“NRFs”)! Click here  for raffle parameters and prize information.

To assist you and your staff in participating in this initiative, ESI will automatically deliver a Wealthscape report through the automated alerts system this Friday, and on the 1st of each month through the duration of the entry period. The “Email Address of Record” report will display your current Brokerage Book of Business and itemize all accounts, their current email address information, and their eDelivery election status. If logged into Wealthscape, you can simply click on the hyperlink within the secure email to launch your report.

For any questions on this report or the ongoing eDelivery initiative, please contact our service desk at 1-800-344-7437.

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Important ESI Suitability Tip regarding the LSW Rate Booster Crediting Strategies

August 18, 2020

Tip on filling out the ESI Annuity Purchase & Exchange Disclosure (ES0537) form
With the recent introduction of FIT Focus and FIT Horizon annuities from LSW, clients now have the option of allocating their premium into various Rate Booster crediting strategies.  The Rate Booster options allow for higher participation rates or caps than the standard options and come with a 1% annual charge.

The Annuity Purchase & Exchange Disclosure is not designed to highlight optional, allocation-based fees in the Proposed Annuity Information section located on page 2.  You should disclose the 1% fee elsewhere.  Please ensure you are adding a reference to the 1% Rate Booster fee in either the Remarks section located on page 4 or the Additional Remarks section located on page 5.

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Wealthscape Investor Update – Optional Two-Factor Authentication Enrollment

August 18, 2020

In an ongoing effort to enhance platform security, Wealthscape Investor users will be able to enroll in Two-FactorAuthentication at log in. After logging in, they can navigate to the User Preferences Menu and select the 2-Factor Authentication Settings link to enable this functionality. Once enabled, they will be asked to choose email or phone toreceive the One-Time PIN (OTP), which they will enter on the screen to complete their login. The email and phone optionsthat display reflect the information provided by the user as part of the Security Contact data. Click here for additional reference materials.

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New Data Feeds Available in Star Compliance

August 18, 2020

ESI has added data feeds from the following firms to its list of available feeds through Star Compliance:

  • Davenport and Company
  • Kestra Investment Services
  • Robinhood Financial

This brings the total number of available feeds from outside brokerage firms to 25.

which firms provide automated data feeds?
ESI has established electronic data feeds with several firms, allowing them to provide account information to Star Compliance on an automated basis. This allows for transactional and holdings history to automatically populate quarterly transactions and annual holdings reports, respectively, and you will be able to certify to your transactions and holdings via Star.

With the new additions, the list of established automated feeds includes:   

  • Ameriprise
  • Charles Schwab
  • Citi
  • Commonwealth
  • Davenport and Co.
  • E*Trade
  • Edward Jones
  • Fidelity
  • Interactive Brokers
  • LPL Financial
  • Kestra Investment Services
  • Merrill Lynch
  • Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
  • NFS
  • Options Xpress
  • Prudential
  • Raymond James
  • Robinhood Financial
  • Stifel Nicolaus
  • T. Rowe Price
  • TD Ameritrade
  • UBS
  • USAA
  • Vanguard
  • Wells Fargo

what if my brokerage firm is not listed above?

Not all brokerage firms allow for electronic data feeds. If you who hold accounts at firms other than those listed above, you have three options for reporting:

  1. Attach current statement(s) to your online Quarterly Transaction Report and Annual Holdings Report filings in Star and submit.
  2. Manually enter transactions and holdings information to your online Quarterly Transaction Report and Annual Holdings Report filings in Star and submit; or
  3. Move the account(s) to one of the firms listed above. 

how do i add a new brokerage account?

If you are interested in opening a new brokerage account with an outside firm, you need to obtain approval from ESI Compliance before opening the account.  Contact ESI Licensing for an authorization letter – commonly referred to as a “407 letter”.  They will provide the authorization letter, which you should attach to your new account application for the holding firm.

Once you have opened the account, complete the Authorization to Provide Account Information (ES0641) form, and email it to ESICompliance@nationallife.com.  If it’s feed-eligible, the Compliance department will work with the holding firm to add the account to ESI’s data feed.  If the account is not feed-eligible, we will request they provide duplicate paper statements.

QUESTIONS

If you have questions about reportable brokerage accounts, transactions, or the process for obtaining approval for an outside account, contact Tom Longfellow at 802-229-7424 or tlongfellow@nationallife.com.

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We’ve Updated Our Investment Evolution Marketing Campaign!

August 11, 2020

Purpose of the Campaign – Market Yourself and Build Your Investment Business 

This campaign is designed to help you market yourself and your services and to help you build your investment business in the process.

Do your clients and prospects know exactly what you do? Don’t assume that your network fully understands everything you bring to the table. If you want your network to know exactly what you offer, you have to remind them. And then you have to remind them again. Even long-time clients might not realize the full scope of expertise you provide, so touching base at least annually with clients, centers of influence, and anyone who may provide a referral is important. 

Audience

Current clients, centers of influence, friends & family, managed money prospects, and the rest of your network

Campaign Components

Customizable Postcard through CoBrand OnDemand

For new prospects or just as a good reminder to your network, a customizable postcard called Investment Evolution is available through CoBrand OnDemand. You can add your information to the template and then order as many printed copies as you need.

New to CoBrand OnDemand? Log in to the NLGroup website and click the CoBrand link in the left column to learn more and to use the templates.

HTML Email Template
Do you prefer an email campaign? Our Everything Evolves postcard is also available as an html email.

Social Media Content
Extend your campaign to your online presence and supplement your campaign with relevant social posts. The Hearsay Social content library has a large, and constantly growing selection of posts that relate to financial planning, investments, market volatility, etc. To easily find campaign-related posts, filter your search by selecting the “Investment Evolution” tag located on the left column of your Hearsay Dashboard.

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