Product Watch: John Hancock upgrades VUL policy for corporations

John Hancock in Boston has upgraded its Medallion Executive Variable Life III universal life insurance policy.

The product, a flexible corporate-owned-and-sponsored policy, is intended to fund multilife executive benefit plans.

The product’s enhanced design will provide corporate clients with stronger early cash-value growth while maintaining solid long-term performance.

The enhancements include:

* Over 101% first-year cash values, resulting in a positive impact to earnings, when MEVL III is maximum funded.

* Stronger early and long-term cash value growth when compared to other leading corporate-owned life insurance products.

* Strong long-term cash value performance, leading to higher death benefit for cost recovery at death (strong internal rate of return at age 80).

* The option to use an enhanced cash-value rider to attain early surrender values in excess of 107%, depending on underwriting and the assumed investment rate.

Stronger early cash values and long-term performance were achieved by reducing the product’s sales load to 3%, from 7%, which will also be passed on to existing MEVL III policyholders.

Bondweb.com adds mortgage data

* Andrew Davidson & Co. Inc. and Bondweb.com in New York have announced a new strategic alliance.

Andrew Davidson agreed to provide its industry-standard Mortgage-Backed Securities Prepayment Model and analytics to the Bondweb.com electronic exchange system for live distribution to all Bondweb.com trading customers.

The alliance will permit users to perform yield duration and spread analysis on all types of mortgage-backed securities without leaving the site.

The prepayment model will cover all collateral types traders need to analyze. By offering those analytic capabilities in real time, Bondweb.com will allow its customers to make more-informed and timely trades in the $6 trillion mortgage-backed marketplace.

The Bondweb.com online trading service with the Andrew Davidson prepayment model will be available early next year.

Calculator, checkup from T. Rowe Price

* T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. in Baltimore now has a free calculator available on its website to help investors estimate what they can afford to spend in retirement and the chances of maintaining their income, adjusted for inflation, over their life expectancy.

The retirement income calculator (troweprice.com/ric) enables retirees and those approaching retirement to determine if their retirement income goal is realistic and whether their money will last throughout their retirement years.

The calculation is based on their assets, withdrawal rate, investment strategy and desired simulation success rate.

The calculator incorporates the same “Monte Carlo” method used in the firm’s Retirement Income Manager program, which provides in-depth analysis of retirement spending and a comprehensive, personalized client plan.

The calculator simulates 500 market scenarios to determine whether a retirement income strategy and spending rate are sustainable.

For investors wanting a customized and detailed analysis, clients can use Retirement Income Manager, which costs $500.

T. Rowe Price has also introduced an investment checkup service to provide investors with an in-depth review of their asset allocation strategy and can recommend an approach consistent with their financial goals and risk tolerance.

The service, which costs $250, is based on an extensive personal profile the investors complete.

Investors receive a portfolio analysis with recommendations on how their portfolio should be allocated among stocks, bonds and cash.

Specific breakdowns for categories within asset classes – such as small- and mid-cap stocks, international securities and high-yield bonds – are included.

The model portfolios were developed by T. Rowe Price portfolio managers, research analysts and certified financial planners.

Advice is also offered to help investors reallocate their assets to minimize tax. Each client is assigned an advisory counselor.

The portfolio review is not limited to T. Rowe Price funds – it includes holdings in other mutual funds as well as individual securities and other types of investments.

Transamerica adds Financial Engines

* Transamerica Retirement Services in Los Angeles now offers Financial Engines Inc.’s investment adviser service to defined-contribution-plan participants.

Participants can access the service through TA-Retirement.com.

Through the adviser service, participants can monitor their investments and access information about the likelihood of reaching their retirement income goals.

The service makes specific investment recommendations and shows how the recommendations could affect future retirement outcomes. A customized action plan also is provided to participants.

New desk optimizes access to ECNs

* Wall Street Access, the New York-based brokerage firm, is offering a new trading desk dedicated to working customers’ orders on a variety of alternative trading systems, or ECNs. The ECN Desk enables brokers at Wall Street Access to route customer orders to the best ECN for a particular trade.

The company works with almost all major ECNs, including Instinet, RediBook, Bloomberg Tradebook and MarketXT.

Wall Street Access provides pre-open and post-market trading through the designated ECN Desk, now open and ready for trading.

From 7 a.m. to 8: 59 a.m., the firm will trade via direct access to several ECNs.

From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wall Street Access provides SelectNet preference capability to every ECN and market maker on the box.

Canadian, Aussie dollars added by Gain

* Gain Capital in Warren, N.J., is offering support for additional currency pairs and currency options.

Gain will support 24-hour, commission-free trading of U.S., Canadian and Australian dollars and all major crosses, bringing the total number of supported currency pairs to 20. In addition, the firm will offer clients currency options.

Gain Capital has also introduced a managed-account program that complements its Internet-based foreign-exchange trading service. It also capitalizes on Gain’s already-established 24-hour operation as well as the trading and risk management expertise of the company’s professional team.

Only the most liquid G7 currencies – including the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Swiss franc and Canadian and Australian dollars – will be traded against the U.S. dollar and against one other.

The Gain managed-account program, which requires a minimum of $25,000 to participate, offers investors asset diversification and the possible risk reduction associated with adding low to negative correlation to equity investments; professional account management from a well-capitalized firm with respected senior management and trading teams; access to the 24-hour, highly liquid currency markets with minimal friction costs; profit potential in rising and falling markets; the ability to employ leverage; and real-time account management with monthly reporting.