Month: October 2022

AssetMark Adds New Investment Strategies from BlackRock, Federated Hermes and Stone Ridge

October 11, 2022

From AssetMark:

New Investment Strategies to Help Advisors Navigate Market Volatility
Investors’ emotions and short-term behaviors can get in the way of their long-term financial goals. Challenging markets can be overwhelming, but they also offer opportunities to lean in, connect and deepen relationships with clients. Three new strategies will be available at AssetMark in early October that can help advisors with their clients’ concerns about portfolio diversification and income.

Two new alternative investment-focused mutual fund strategies will be available from BlackRock and Stone Ridge1 that can provide portfolio diversification from traditional stock and bond investments, both of which have been challenged this year.

A new income-oriented Separately Managed Account (SMA) will be available from Federated Hermes that generates dividend income through investment in defensive equities. Equity income portfolios can be used to complement existing traditional fixed income allocations with less sensitivity to rising interest rates.

Strategies For Turbulent Markets

  • Two new liquid alternative strategies with lower correlation to traditional equities and bonds
  • Access to unique, traditionally high-net-worth asset classes such as direct real estate, through a mutual fund wrap structure
  • New income oriented SMA offers dividend income as well as long-term capital appreciation potential while seeking to limit downside risk
  • Strategy due diligence performed by AssetMark Due Diligence Team2
Strategy NameInvestment ApproachInvestment MinimumPlatform Fee3
Stone Ridge Diversified Alternatives Fund StrategyBonds & Bond Alternatives$10,00025 bps
BlackRock Opportunistic AlternativesBonds & Bond Alternatives$25,00060 bps
Federated Hermes Strategic Value DividendEnhanced Return Focus$50,00075 bps

Market Volatility Strategies
View Resources

For more information about these new strategies, contact your Strategic Accounts representative directly.

1 Stone Ridge Asset Management is a boutique financial services firm based in New York focused on alternative strategies with $15 billion in assets under management.

2 Part of AssetMark, Inc.

3 Platform fees tier down based on household assets

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Have You Qualified for the ESI Elite Symposium Yet?

October 11, 2022

In 2022 ESI qualifiers enjoyed the beautiful Utah mountains in Park City. In 2023 we’ll head further west and enjoy the surf and sand of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara from July 24-28, 2023. Boasting two natural beaches and Mediterranean-inspired architecture, the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara offers luxury resort amenities, scenic ocean views and easy access to the region’s vineyards, restaurants, shops and attractions.

How to Qualify:
Rep Qualifications:         $425,000* of GDC
Agency Qualifications:   $4,250,000* of GDC
Qualification Period:       01/01/2022 – 12/31/2022

Congratulations to those that have already qualified as of 10/5/22!*

Rich Kelly

Steve Simon

Chuck Creighton

Dominick Citera

Mark Vosk

Justin Paine

Paul Sortino

Travis Ramsdell

Daniel Streeter

Tyler Degeneffe

Jay Maffe

Dan Wolodkiewicz

Nico Riverso

WM Nzambi

Chirag Savalia

Jeffrey Friedrich

Michael Castillo

Alan Fishman

Don Reutemann

Hillory Burkett

Scott Maitland

Patrick Stephens

John Stephens

James Muro

William D’Angelo

Brian Doherty

Scott Levin

* Credits may be adjusted if needed to comply with the Massachusetts Fiduciary Rule. All Fixed Indexed Annuity Sales are excluded from this amount.

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Alternative Mutual Fund Lists Updated for Q3 2022

October 11, 2022

Approved and Prohibited Alternative Mutual Funds
The purchase of Alternative Mutual Funds that include inverse and leveraged strategies is not permitted. To assist with what funds may be purchased, there is an Alternative Mutual Fund Available List and a Watch List which is updated quarterly and may be found on the Agent Portal à Products à Investments à Mutual Funds. 

  • The Approved List is a list of approved alternative mutual funds that may be purchased (once training has been completed).
  • The Watch List is the list of alternative mutual funds that the Firm is watching to determine if they may become prohibited in the future due to failing consecutive screens, (two consecutive quarters). If you recommend purchases on the list, please be aware that they may no longer be approved to purchase in the future.
  • The Restricted List is the list of prohibited alternative mutual funds.
    • BROKERAGE: If an attempt to purchase is ma de in a brokerage account, the purchase will be blocked.
    • DIRECT: If purchased in a direct, mutual fund, you will be contacted by Compliance after to work with your client to have any new investments directed to a non-alternative mutual fund or to one of the approved alternative mutual funds. 
    • REMOVED FROM APPROVED LIST:If a fund is removed from the Available list (brokerage or direct), Compliance will contact you to let you know that the fund is no longer available for purchase and to work with your client to have any new investments directed to a non-alternative mutual fund or to one of the approved alternative mutual funds. 

All three lists can be found on the NL Agent Portal under Products – Investments – Mutual Funds.

Training
Prior to purchasing approved alternative mutual funds, you must first complete required training in FIRE Solutions. The training may be accessed through FIRE Solutions: https://blaze.firesolutions.com/portal/login. The cost is $12.50.  Once you have completed the course, please email your completion certificate to ESITrading@NationalLife.com and this training will be added to your profile.

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Wealthscape Investor Mobile App Updates

October 11, 2022

In an ongoing effort to improve the Wealthscape Investor mobile app experience, Fidelity Investments is pleased to introduce the following enhancements that will be available starting in October:

Tax Forms

  • Investors will have access to view their Tax Forms through the Documents feature currently available in the app
  • Tax forms are available for the last seven years, same as the browser experience
  • Estimated online activation dates provided for forms that are in progress
  • Notification if forms are delayed due to pending securities information
  • Informational message for De minimis tax forms

Existing Wealthscape InvestorSM mobile users that have automatic updates enabled in their device settings will receive new app updates automatically.

Existing Wealthscape InvestorSM mobile users that do not have automatic updates enabled in their device settings will need to download the latest version of the app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

The following screenshots illustrate the new Tax Forms feature in the Wealthscape Investor mobile app. Once an account is selected, the investor can tap on the Documents tab and then tap Tax Forms. The most recent tax year is displayed by default. The results section will display forms that are in progress or currently available.

When a tax form is available users can tap on the tax form name to view the PDF. Investors can zoom in and out on the document using their device as well as download and print a document. Tapping on the year allows users to select from the past seven years of tax forms.

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Recharacterization and Return of Excess IRA Contribution Deadline

October 4, 2022

October 17, 2022 is the deadline to process recharacterizations of 2021 IRA contributions and to process return of excess IRA contributions made in 2021.

Recharacterizations of IRA Contributions
Customers who wish to change the nature of an IRA contribution may recharacterize such a contribution prior to the due date (including extensions) for filing the customer’s federal income tax return for the year for which the contribution was made to the IRA. The deadline to process a recharacterization of a contribution made for 2021 is October 17, 2022.

Customers can request a recharacterization by completing the Premiere Select IRA Recharacterization Request form, which must be submitted to National Financial Services LLC (NFS) for manual processing. The form (1.747222.107) is available on the Marketing Fulfillment Central Web site, which can be accessed from WealthscapeSM (Resources > Marketing Fulfillment Central) or from the Web (https://www.nfmarketingcentral.com).

A recharacterization processed in 2022 will be reflected on the 2022 1099-R and 5498 forms that will be mailed in January 2023. A recharacterization does not affect a prior year tax form.

Return of Excess IRA Contributions

Customers who have made an excess IRA contribution have until the due date (including extensions) for filing their federal income tax return to request a Return of Excess (ROE) Contribution. The deadline to process an ROE for a contribution made in 2021 is October 17, 2022. Note: Excess IRA contributions for a year that are not withdrawn by the deadline are subject to a 6% penalty tax. The 6% penalty applies for each year the excess remains in the IRA. In addition, the earnings on the excess contribution may be subject to a 10% penalty. Customers can request an ROE by completing a Premiere Select IRA One Time Distribution Request form (not required for accounts governed by Asset Movement Authorization).

Correspondents can process ROEs in the Integrated Cashiering Platform (ICP). To ensure that an ROE for a contribution made in 2021 is processed prior to the customer’s deadline, correspondents have until 4:00PM ET on October 17, 2022 to enter and approve the transaction. Please note that the last day to request a distribution via the standard 2-day EFT process is October 14, 2022, provided that the request is entered and paperwork is submitted (if applicable) by 4:00PM ET.

The IRS has provided tax relief for victims of recent storms and wildfires that extends the October 17 deadline. For details, please refer to these IRS Notices:

StateDeadline Extended ToIRS Notice
Kentucky11/15/2022KY-2022-06
St. Croix, USVI11/15/2022VI-2022-01
Missouri11/15/2022MO-2022-07
Mississippi2/15/2023MS-2022-01
Puerto Rico2/15/2023PR-2022-10

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Fixed Income Commentary

October 4, 2022

“Bond yields rose substantially in August as investors interpreted numerous comments from Fed officials as bearish.  All tenors in the one-to-ten-year part of the yield curve rose by 50 basis points or more.  As a result, the total return for the Bloomberg U.S. Intermediate Aggregate Bond Index was -2.49% for the month.” Read the full fixed income commentary from Maple Capital (or any of their other commentaries) at https://www.maplecapital.com/fixed-income-commentary-september-2022/ .

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Tell Us What You Think About ESI AND Win A Smart Watch!

October 4, 2022

Feedback is key for us to learn where our strengths are, where there is room for improvement, and how best to move forward with achieving our goals.  Please help us by completeing the Annual Sentiment Survey, emailed from “Equity Services, Inc. noreply@qemailserver.com” on Monday, September 19th. Everyone who responds to the survey will be entered into a drawing for a smart watch!

Last year ESI sent its first Annual Sentiment Survey to registered representatives and administrative staff in the field to get a baseline on how we are doing at a very high level.  The survey was designed to assess your experience in working with ESI holistically.  Are we meeting your needs?  Are we helping grow your business? And most importantly ae we helping you, help your clients achieve their financial goals?

Over the past year we have spent time analyzing your responses and implementing changes that we felt would be most impactful.  An example of this was the creation of the Partner Experience Group to overhaul our onboarding process and facilitate trainings for experienced producers.

Didn’t receive your survey email? Contact Mike Chiarella at MChiarella@NationalLife.com.

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Prohibition on Use of Outside Email

October 4, 2022

The securities industry has recently seen some SEC enforcement cases which involved multi-million-dollar fines related to the failure of certain firms to capture all electronic communications.  Firms’ processes and representatives’ compliance in this area are sure to receive continued scrutiny from regulators. To ensure that ESI’s representatives are compliant and still able to market non-securities related services under an approved DBA, this notice reiterates the process for all outside business-related email accounts, as well as non-standard NLG email formats. All ESI Registered Representatives (“RRs”), Investment Adviser Representatives (“IARs”), employees, and associated persons (including non-registered fingerprinted administrative staff) are required to use an NLGroup email or a firm-approved non-standard (a.k.a. “vanity”) email address for all business-related communications. Using an unapproved outside email address could cause violations of securities laws and could result in disciplinary action to the representative.

What is a Business-Related Communication?
Definition: Business-related communications include anything relating to:

  • Securities
  • Investment advisory services
  • Insurance (i.e. life, annuities, disability, property/casualty, health, group, etc.)
  • Commodities
  • Real Estate
  • All investment-related activities as defined by FINRA

Business-related communications to clients, potential clients, vendors, home office employees, admin staff, or other RRs may not be sent using an unapproved outside email address.

Examples of business-related communications include, but are not limited to:

  • Communicating to/from or about clients,
  • Discussing appointments with a client or RR (even to say you are running late),
  • Sending a form (even to print it),
  • Submitting a blotter to your Field OSJ,
  • Asking/answering questions to your office staff,
  • Discussing anything about the Firm or the Firm’s business, or
  • Communicating with vendors (i.e. wholesalers and marketing organizations).

Scanners
If you scan documents that are linked to an email, ensure the email address is your NLG email. Scanners must be linked to an NLG email address for the security of the information being scanned. Additionally, if you utilize your phone to take a photo for business purposes (e.g. photograph a driver’s license or paperwork), ensure that you upload them only to an approved email account and not your personal email.  Keep in mind that these documents may have confidential, personally identifiable information and should not be stored on your phone or in the cloud. So, you will want to ensure such items are properly deleted from the device immediately.

CPA, Enrolled Agent, or Attorney Emails
RRs who are also CPAs, Enrolled Agents (“EAs”), or attorneys must use their NLGroup email for all financial services business-related communications. However, ESI recognizes that CPAs, EAs and attorneys have privacy concerns specific to these outside activities.  Accordingly, those RRs who are practicing CPAs, EAs, or attorneys (or NY-only tax preparers) may use an outside email address for their accounting/tax or legal activities. To do so, RRs must maintain clear separation between their financial services and accounting/tax or legal activities, and submit a completed Email Address Certification to their supervisor and ESI Compliance.  

RRs must allow inspection of the outside email if requested and agree to all other terms specified in the Certification, which include minimum retention requirements. 

Vanity or Non-Standard Email
RRs and associated persons may be permitted to use a personalized or vanity email address (e.g. jsmith@abcfinancial.com) or a non-standard National Life format (i.e. something other than the standard LastName_FirstName@nlgroupmail.com  configuration) for business-related emails, provided that prior approval is obtained from ESI, and that such email addresses are properly configured to flow through the National Life servers.

It is important to note that the use of web-based email such as “Yahoo”, “AOL”, “Gmail”, or like services will not be approved, and are not permitted for financial services business-related communications under any circumstances, because they do not meet the regulatory requirements for monitoring and retention.

For more information on vanity or non-standard email addresses, please review Field Notice 2022-23 Vanity and Non-Standard Email.     

Questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact ESI Compliance at 800-344-7437 or ESIElectroniccommunications@nationallife.com.

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