NEWS & PRODUCTS

Eaton Vance has introduced a Supplemental Retirement Account (SRA) that’s designed to bridge the savings gap outside of qualified plans. The SRA is a Web-based program that allows for systematic savings for those consumers who’ve met the annual contribution limits through IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457 plans. The SRA investments are made in a diversified portfolio of tax-managed equity and tax-exempt municipal income mutual funds selected by the program participant, and are maintained and reported as a single consolidated account, according to Eaton Vance. Because SRA investments are held in a taxable account, Eaton Vance says, tax management strategies are used in managing the underlying mutual funds to minimize investor taxes. An initial investment of $20,000 along with a commitment to make systematic investments of at least $500 per month are required to open an SRA, Eaton Vance says (www.supplementalretirementaccount.com).

BISYS has launched an HSA Service Center, a Web-based tool allowing financial institutions to potentially expand their market presence by providing consumers with education on HSAs, “what-if” calculations, as well as the ability to generate signature-ready documents for HSAs. In a release announcing the center, Steve Christenson, VP of BISYS Retirement Services, says “at its core, health savings accounts operate in a nearly parallel structure as the IRA when one considers the documentation and reporting requirements.” At the end of 2005, BISYS notes that approximately 1.2 million HSAs were opened through financial institutions. By the end of 2005, HSAs, which are “transactional in nature,” BISYS says, had accumulated more than $2 billion in assets, with the average balance somewhere around $1,667. Projections put HSAs at 8 million accounts and $48 billion in assets by 2010, BISYS says, with the average account balance rising to $7,763.