Abstract: An automated retirement plan manager manages the assets of an employee retirement benefits plan on behalf of an employer. The plan manager executes trades on investment vehicles based on instructions from an automated independent investment advisor. The advisor calculates a human capital for each plan participant based on data derived from the employer and from the participant through an interface, and based on that human capital calculation recommends an allocation of portfolio assets to the participant. This recommendation, once presented for review by and perhaps modified by the participant, becomes an instruction to the plan manager. As the participant ages his or her human capital is recalculated, and this is used to determine whether the participant's present portfolio type should now be switched to a more conservative one.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 5, 2002
Date of Patent:
May 8, 2007
Assignee:
Ibbotson Associates
Inventors:
Peng Chen, Roger Ibbotson, Michael C. Henkel
Abstract: A method, system and medium for optimally allocating investment assets for a given investor within and between annuitized assets and non-annuitized assets retrieves an investor's utility of consumption, utility of bequest, objective and subjective probabilities of survival and expected rates of return from each of a plurality of annuity and nonannuity assets having varying degrees of risk and return. Based on these inputs, an objective utility function is maximized by adjusting the asset allocation weights. The optimal asset allocation weights may be used to allocate the assets of the investor's portfolio among predetermined investment vehicles or as an analytical tool by portfolio managers.