Welcome to the February RPAG Scoop where we are giving you an investigative look into the retirement industry through the RPAG looking glass. This month, we have new resources for you to uncover, 2024 market evidence, an ASA sleuth for scores, and a breakthrough for our RPAG portal. We aren't just any rookie detectives over here, so join us!
What's New at RPAG? (0:56)
Detective Luke Vandermillen Jr. has offered his services to show you what is going on behind the scenes at the RPAG precinct. He starts by giving us a list of new resources that includes upcoming digital sessions, new articles, memos, and videos! To watch these videos, he highly recommends that advisors subscribe to our YouTube Channel and clicking the bell in the corner to be notified whenever we post a new video. To access all of our articles, which include Participant Memos, check out the blog page on our website! A question that Luke often gets is "How can I expand my book of business?" and he encourages members to utilize the Fund Mapping tool in the portal. Fund mapping helps you clearly outline the proposed changes for a plan as well as the impact of those changes.
Investment Update (11:21)
Chief Investment Officer Jeff Elvander has some evidence to show the members about 2024 and his predictions about 2025. Across the board in 2024, risk-assets win. There was strong performance across all risk assets, specifically in the US equity markets (which is 2 years in a row now). The result is that aggressive glidepaths in target date funds shined. He also believes that we are out of the woods in terms of a recession.
Looking at 2025, the Magnificent Seven is now a very large concentration of all indexes such as the S&P 500. Active management is more important than ever because they are so diversified. Traditional fixed income is looking more attractive as that longer end of the rate yield curve moves higher. The "age wave" is looking at the retiree group out there that is turning 65 every day. We are already into the window where we are seeing many retirees hitting their target date. This is why personalization is so important and making sure that matching someone's goal retirement and their risk level should be a priority.
When and Where Will I See Scores? (25:22)
With quarterly scores recently being released, Alexis Patenaude, an Advisor Service Associate here at RPAG, wanted to shed some light on when you can expect to see quarterly scores and where you would find them. Quarterly scores are released 11 business days after quarter end. Stable Value fund data will be available 30-45 days after quarter end, while GIC fund data will be available 45-60 days after quarter end. To find a score's history, you can either use the fund lookup tool or through the client/prospect tab at the bottom of a specific plan's page in the "Reports" section.
Tech Enhancements and Improved Features (27:45)
We have an RPAG Scoop rookie joining us this month! Michael Feldman, the Sr. Systems Development Coordinator at RPAG has been investigating tirelessly with his team to bring you justice in the form of an updated platform. Some of these updates include a "Last Presented" date for service plans, keeping you on task with your clients and a new formula for the weighted net investment cost on the expense comparison tool to optimize your report experience. His favorite recent improvement on the portal was the FIR. Terminated plans are not allowed to run FIRs, but there is now a convenient button that lets you activate a plan right then and there so you can run your reports without having to go back to the plan's page. If you would like more details on our recent tech enhancements, click here.
Thank you for looking at the clues with us this month, we hope you enjoyed learning alongside us. To see next month's, join us on YouTube on Monday, March 3.
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Contact the RPAG Support Team at support@rpag.com to learn more about RPAG and get help with our platform, suite of services, next-gen technology, or anything else!