Across My Desk: New Resources for Consumers and Advisors

At the end of every quarter, DALBAR, a Boston-based investment company research firm, publishes a list of the best mutual fund web sites based upon their research. Here's what their 3rd quarter research showed:

"American Century, Fidelity, Wells Fargo, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, Lincoln Financial, OppenheimerFunds, Franklin Templeton, NYLIM MainStay Funds, and AIM Investments all earned DALBAR's highest honor, an "Excellent" Web site designation, for providing clients with the best online service and support in the Mutual Fund industry...

Trend: New Resources for Consumers and Advisors

Both consumer and financial professional web sites added informative and educational resources this past quarter. Consumer sites received new interactive tools while many financial professional web sites focused on new sales material emphasizing client needs.

• Schwab introduced a Rate of Return analysis tool that creates multiple charts and graphs detailing the performance of a client portfolio or individual investment. Calvert added six new screening option to their "Know What you Own" tool that allows investors to research mutual fund holdings to see if they violate Calvert's social responsibility policy

• Lincoln Financial created a new section on their financial professional web site entitled "Retirement Revolution" that includes guides, tools, case studies, and sales materials to support clients' retirement needs

• NYLIM MainStay Investments introduced a "Top Sales Idea" section to their web site which will house the most relevant and popular sales material."