PALO ALTO, Calif. and PRINCETON, N.J., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill
Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Financial Engines, an online investment advisor, today
announced a strategic alliance through which Merrill Lynch will meet the
increasing need for advice and guidance among its 401(k) participants by
offering them Financial Engines' online advisory service.
The service, Financial Engines Investment Advisor(SM), will be delivered
through Merrill Lynch's Bene OnLine(SM) web-based service, which now provides
more than 1 million participants in 401(k), stock option and stock purchase
plans with plan information and transactional capabilities.
Through the new alliance, Merrill Lynch will be the first full service
brokerage firm to make Internet-based advice and guidance available for its
401(k) participants.
The Financial Engines Investment Advisor was developed by Economics Nobel
Laureate William F. Sharpe and a team of leading software and finance
experts. Financial Engines serves as the fiduciary and is a federally
registered investment advisor.
Merrill Lynch's introduction of advice and guidance tools comes at an
important time, as recent Merrill Lynch research has found that 70% of
employees want someone to advise them where to invest their 401(k) money,
and companies are increasingly seeking advice and guidance tools to meet
their employees' needs.
The study, commissioned by Merrill Lynch and conducted last month by
International Communications Research, found that more than half of the
companies that do offer advice and guidance for 401(k) participants consider
the programs extremely successful.
"Advice and guidance is the No. 1 concern of 401(k) plan sponsors and
participants today," said Patrick J. Walsh, Senior Vice President and
Director, Merrill Lynch Group Employee Services. "Merrill Lynch has
determined that the best advice and guidance solution for our plan sponsors
and participants is a spectrum of options, ranging from our Goal Manager
asset allocation and rebalancing service to the Financial Engines Investment
Advisor and other customized services," Mr. Walsh said.
Internet access to benefits information has also grown substantially in
the past year, with 30% of companies offering access, compared with 15% in
1998, the study found. Seventeen percent of companies that do not currently
offer Internet access to retirement benefits said they would be more likely to
do so if that access included the ability to offer advice and guidance over
the Internet.
The Investment Advisor service leverages the power of the Internet with
powerful simulation technology that forecasts the range of possible future
values of an individual's specific investments. This technology, used for
decades by America's most sophisticated pension funds, helps individuals see
how the decisions they make today will impact how well they will live in
retirement. The service also provides daily ongoing monitoring and lets
users know if adjustments are needed as markets change.
"The sea change in retirement savings is creating an unprecedented need
for ordinary human beings to make informed decisions about investing their
retirement savings," commented William F. Sharpe, Founder and Chairman of
Financial Engines. "Most 401(k) plan participants appreciate an advisor that
is unbiased, trusted and will assist them with key decisions such as how
much to save and how much risk to take with their investments. By partnering
with a third party advice provider, Merrill Lynch is demonstrating its
commitment to helping companies limit their liability while providing their
participants with a high quality advisory service to help them maximize
their 401(k) benefits."
With more than $146 billion in retirement plan assets and 4.2 million
individual participants, Merrill Lynch Group Employee Services serves
large-, middle- and small-market company employee benefit plans and is the
third largest provider of retirement plan services in the U.S.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and
advisory companies with offices in 41 countries and total client assets
exceeding $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global
underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading
strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and
individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Asset Management and Mercury
Asset Management the company is one of the world's largest managers of
financial assets. For more information, visit Merrill Lynch's web site at
http://www.ml.com.
Financial Engines offers unbiased online investment advice for individual
investors. As a registered investment advisor, Financial Engines helps
participants in 401(k) plans answer the most important question they have
when it comes to investing: will I have enough money when I retire. For more
information, visit Financial Engines' web site at
http://www.financialengines.com.
Financial Engines(R) is a registered trademark and Financial Engines
Investment Advisor(SM) is a service mark of Financial Engines, Inc. All
advisory services are provided by Financial Engines Advisors LLC, a
federally registered investment advisor.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ml.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/555800.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 555800
CONTACT:
Wendell Wood Collins of Merrill Lynch,
609-282-3121, Wendell_collins@ml.com; or Laura Thurman of
Financial Engines, 408-979-1917, Laura@jonescomm.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: Editor's Note: For a copy of the new research
study on advice and guidance, commissioned by Merrill Lynch and
conducted last month by International Communications Research,
please call 609-282-3261.
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