Mutual Fund Store unveils income fund for retirees

The Mutual Fund Store LLC, a registered investment adviser with $4.3 billion of assets gathered from offices across the country, announced today it was rolling out a service that provides retirees with a steady income. Its Retirement Paycheck service is designed to minimize the effects of a market downturn on a retiree's nest egg by establishing a pool of assets invested in money market funds or triple-A rated securities that can generate predictable, monthly income, said Adam S. Bold, the firm's founder and chief investment officer. That pool is replenished by other, more growth-oriented investments that increase in value during periods of market growth, he said. “In concept, other people are doing something similar, but in practice we have developed proprietary models,” Mr. Bold said. “We have developed a series of scenarios that are hard-and-fast guidelines. What we have done is try and take the emotion out of investing.” The service — included at no extra cost in the firm's advisory fee — is preferable to generating retirement income via annuities, which can be very expensive, he said. Such a strategy done prudently makes sense, said Richard Schroeder, executive vice president of Schroeder Braxton & Vogt Inc., a financial advisory firm with $170 million in assets. But it sounded no different than what other financial advisers do for their clients, he said. “It's a cute concept, but no different than living off a balanced portfolio,” Mr. Schroeder said.