Computer System For Efficiently Managing Data Processing and Communications with Third Party Servers
A system is provided for administering a destination fund having a guarantee wrapper. The guarantee provides an income stream for life to one or more investors. The destination fund has a selected mix of equities and fixed income investments to provide for enhanced returns throughout retirement for the investor. The destination fund additionally provides income stream flexibility throughout the lifetime of the investor. Administration of a destination fund having a guarantee wrapper may include initiating a guarantee payment process if a value of the destination fund falls below a threshold.
This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/894,522, filed May 15, 2013, titled System and Method for Administering a Destination Fund Having an Associated Guarantee, which is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/491,562, filed Jun. 25, 2009, titled System And Method For Administering A Destination Fund Having An Associated Guarantee, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,447,681, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/116,775, filed Nov. 21, 2008, the entirety of each of which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.
BACKGROUNDPreviously, consumers who invested for retirement had to manually update and re-allocate their portfolios as they aged. This proved to be very cumbersome for individual investors and thus target date funds were developed. Target date funds provide investors with an efficient and easy way to invest for their retirement. Target date funds relieve consumers of the need to constantly monitor investment portfolios and manually manage asset allocations since these tasks are performed automatically for the investor. Many of these target date funds are offered through employer-sponsored 401(k) or IRAs through which employee investors can find the appropriate target date fund that matches their respective anticipated retirement dates.
Target date funds help eliminate the confusion many employees and investors experience when faced with too many mutual fund choices in their typical 401(k) offerings. Generally, a target date fund is comprised of a predetermined mix of cash, bonds and stocks which changes as the investor ages. The target date fund's name generally includes the retirement year, and the funds are usually spaced at five years increments (e.g., 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025, etc.).
Target date funds provide automatic routine rebalancing of the investments held in the portfolio. As the investor ages, the investments are re-allocated towards a more conservative investment mix. The general theory is that as the retirement date approaches, the increasingly conservative asset mix will provide the necessary mix for security, stability and managed growth by progressively decreasing the fund's holding in more volatile equities.
Generally aggressive type target date funds have higher percentages of the portfolio allocated to stocks. The term “stock,” as used therein, should be understood to include any equity instrument, including any exchange-traded equity instrument. These funds are also referred to based on their specific stock to fixed income (such as bonds, cash, etc.) ratio. For example, in a 40/60 mix, the particular fund will have 40-percent stocks and 60-percent fixed income holdings. Thus, a hypothetical target date fund may move from a progressively from a 70/30 mix, to a 60/40 mix, to a 50/50 mix and then to a 40/60 mix as the investor ages. In another example, an investor purchasing a target fund in 2010 would initially have 90% of the fund invested in stocks (more aggressive). In 2030, such a fund would be made up of 80% stocks, a slightly less aggressive approach. Last, in 2050, that fund will be close to 50% stocks and 50% bonds, an extremely conservative and secure approach but at the expense of quite a bit of potential return upside. Generally, the security of fixed income investments is preferred as the investor approaches retirement. As this conventional target date fund asset allocation progresses, the investor exchanges security for decreased upside since as the stock mix in the fund decreases, so does the potential for increased returns. This type of conservative investment allocation progression can negatively impact the size of the accumulated wealth which an investor can accumulate both pre-retirement and during retirement. Such wealth accumulation is necessary to provide regular income to fund essential living expenses such as food and housing costs, retirement activities and health care expenses which may increase as the investor ages.
Referring to
In an embodiment, a computer system for administering a destination fund having a guarantee in an investment program includes a monitoring module for determining destination fund eligibility, the monitoring module being for receiving data relating to a plurality of investors, including, for each of the investors, time until retirement, an investment plan type of the investor; value of investments, and current allocation of investments of the investor; comparing the time until retirement for each investor to a predetermined threshold time until retirement; comparing the investment plan type to one or more qualified investment plan types; comparing the value of investments to a threshold minimum value of investments; if for one of the investors, the time until retirement is not more than the predetermined threshold time until retirement, the investment plan type is one of the qualified investment plan types, and the value of investments is not less than the threshold minimum value, the monitoring module determines that the investor is eligible for the destination fund and provides an output signal indicative of eligibility. The computer system further includes a fund initiation module for, in response to receipt of the output signal from the monitoring module, activating a destination fund for the investor, the activating step comprising divesting assets and reinvesting proceeds of the divested assets in the destination fund, wherein the destination fund has a predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments. The computer system further includes an administration module for accessing a predetermined threshold balance of the destination fund, comparing the predetermined threshold balance to a current balance, based on the result of the comparison determining whether one or more guarantee payments are to be made, and providing an output signal including data indicative of the one or more guarantee payments. A system may further include a payment system for, responsive to receiving the output signal including data indicative of one of the guarantee payments, effecting the guarantee payment to the recipient in accordance with the data in the output signal. In an embodiment, the payment system may effect payment by accessing payor account data and payee address data, and printing a mailing a check in accordance with the accessed data. In an embodiment, the payment system may effect payment by accessing payor account data and payee account data, and providing an output signal to a payor bank to effect an electronic funds transfer from a payor account to a payee account in accordance with the accessed data.
In an embodiment, a system for administering a destination fund having a guarantee in an investment program includes a fund initiation module for activating a destination fund account for the investor, the activating including investing in the destination fund, wherein the destination fund has a predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments; and an administration module for activating a guarantee for an account in the destination fund responsive to receipt of investor decision to commence withdrawals, accessing a predetermined threshold balance of the destination fund, comparing the predetermined threshold balance to an account value adjusted for excess withdrawals, based on the result of the comparison determining whether one or more guarantee payments are to be made, and providing an output signal including data indicative of the one or more guarantee payments. The system further includes a payment system for, responsive to receiving the output signal including data indicative of one of the guarantee payments, effecting the guarantee payment to a recipient in accordance with the data in the output signal.
In an embodiment, a computer implemented method for administering a destination fund having a guarantee in an investment program includes receiving by a processor data relating to investors; activating by the processor a destination fund account for each of the investors, the activating comprising providing by the processor instructions for investing assets, wherein the destination fund has a first predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments; providing by the processor instructions to change the ratio of equity and non-equity investments to a second predetermined ratio, the second predetermined ratio being more weighted toward non-equity investments than the first predetermined ratio; with respect to each of the accounts, storing by the processor in memory that a guarantee is applicable to the account; accessing by the processor from a memory device a predetermined threshold balance of the destination fund account in accordance with the guarantee; accessing by the processor from a shareholder database an account value of the destination fund account; comparing by the processor the predetermined threshold balance to the account value; determining by the processor based on the result of the comparison whether one or more guarantee payments in accordance with the guarantee are to be made, providing by the processor an output signal including data indicative of the one or more guarantee payments; receiving by a payment system the output signal and effecting by the payment system the payment.
In an embodiment, a system for administering a destination fund having a guarantee includes a communications component for collecting information related to one or more investors; a storage component for storing the investor information for investors having one or more target fund accounts, the target funds having a first predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments, and, after a time period, a second predetermined ratio equity and non-equity investments weighted more than the first ratio to non-equity investments; and a processor for accessing the stored investor information, determining destination fund eligibility and initializing destination fund accounts having a guarantee for eligible investors, the destination fund accounts being funded by proceeds of assets from the target date fund accounts, the processor further configured for accessing guarantee payment eligibility criteria and destination fund data, determining based on the guarantee payment eligibility criteria and the destination fund data, whether guarantee payments associated with the destination fund are to be processed, and processing the guarantee payments.
The invention may be better understood from the following illustrative description with reference to the following drawings.
To provide an overall understanding of the invention, certain illustrative embodiments will now be described. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the methods and systems described herein may be adapted and modified as is appropriate for the application being addressed and that the systems and methods described herein may be employed in other suitable applications, and that such other additions and modifications will not depart from the scope thereof. It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for the purpose of clarity, many other elements found in typical computer systems and methods for administration of investments and instruments, such as annuities, that may serve as guarantees. Those of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that other elements and/or steps are desirable and/or required in implementing the present invention. However, because such elements and steps are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements and steps is not provided herein.
The inventors have appreciated that what is needed is a system for administering a retirement fund which provides investors with higher and more robust rates of return in their latter investment years for their retirement portfolios, as compared with target funds, but also provides the security of guaranteed income for those portfolios.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Client/agent devices 310, 320 and 330 may be operated, for example, by individual prospective contract purchasers, investors, broker dealers, agents or other financial advisors, or by personnel of an insurance or financial services provider. Network 340 may be or include the Internet, a corporate intranet, wireless and wired communications channels, or other subnetworks, network nodes or locations. As shown, destination fund 302 includes an associated guarantee 304 which may be an annuity certificate or embedded guarantee or warranty which provides an investor with a lifetime income stream during their retirement. Guarantee 304 may be in the form of an annuity type wrapper or other guarantee form which provides the investor with a guaranteed income stream should the underlying destination fund not be able to meet the income stream required by the investor. Guarantee 304 may be provided directly by the underlying destination fund provider or may be provided by one or more guaranteeing or warranting third parties. Fees for the guarantee are only charged to the investor upon purchase of the destination fund.
Referring to
Referring now to
In an embodiment of the present invention, the guarantee certificate or wrapper is utilized to determine the thresholds for payments and the corresponding payment amounts. For example, the guarantee certificate or wrapper may be established to provide a lifetime payment stream equal to a predetermined fraction per annum of the initial account value to the investor. For example, the guarantee wrapper or certificate may provide for payments per annum in the range of 1% to 10% of the initial account value to the investor. In an embodiment, the benefit base used for calculating the annual payments may be different from the initial account value. For example, the benefit base may be the account value at the time of retirement, or immediately prior to the first payment. The benefit base may be the maximum account value, or the maximum account value on an anniversary of the account. The benefit base may be an average account value of account values taken on a daily, weekly, monthly or other periodic basis over a time period, such as a time period from initiation of the account to the first payment from the account. In other embodiments, a specified monetary sum per annum or other period may also be specified. It is contemplated that the guaranteed payment may be varied in accordance with the needs of specific investors, such as to accommodate the varying needs of each specific retiree.
In an embodiment, the guarantee provided by the destination fund may be warranted by a third party pursuant to a warranty agreement between the fund and/or a manager of the fund and a third party. By way of example, a warranty agreement may be provided pursuant to which the third party provides a standby letter of credit up to a stated maximum amount to the fund. The third party may be required to make payments to the fund under the letter of credit if the net assets of the fund are not sufficient for the fund to meet its guaranteed payment obligations. The third party may be required to make payments to the fund or directly to an investor if the balance of an account is not sufficient to provide the guaranteed payment.
In an embodiment, a guarantee may be in the form of a certificate, which may be a contract between the investor and an issuer, which may be an insurance company, for example. The certificate may be a contingent deferred annuity. A contingent deferred annuity provides payments over the remaining life of an investor or other designated person, or until the last to survive of two designated persons, on the occurrence of a contingency. The contingency may be the unavailability of sufficient funds in the investor's account to provide the guaranteed payment. A certificate may be offered pursuant to a prospectus. The certificate may provide for payments based on a percentage of a benefit base. The benefit base under the certificate may be subject to a cap specified in the certificate. The certificate may provide that certain withdrawals will reduce the benefit base. For example, a certificate may provide that any withdrawal prior to a specified age of the investor or another annuitant, or prior to a specified date, or earlier than a certain time after establishment of the account and/or purchase of the certificate, will reduce the benefit base. The certificate may provide that withdrawals in excess of a maximum percentage of a benefit base in a certain year will reduce the benefit base. Such withdrawals may reduce the benefit base by the amount of the withdrawal. Such withdrawals may reduce the benefit base to a fraction of its prior value determined by multiplying the benefit base prior to the withdrawal by a fraction equal to the account value after the withdrawal to the account value prior to the withdrawal. The maximum percentage may be fixed in the certificate, or may depend on factors, such as the age of the annuitant or the younger of joint annuitants at the time of the first withdrawal. The maximum percentage may depend on whether there is a single annuitant or joint annuitants. The certificate may provide that the benefit base is initially equal to the account value upon purchase of the certificate. The certificate may provide that the benefit base is equal to the greatest account value on an anniversary of the account or of the certificate, prior to any withdrawals. The certificate may provide that the benefit base does not change after the first withdrawal.
The guarantee payments may be made to a recipient other than an investor or a surviving spouse or partner of an investor. For example, the destination fund may be established to provide for income for another recipient, such as another relative of an investor, and the guarantee payments may be made to such designated recipient.
Referring now to
Referring to
In an embodiment, the monitoring module may access data indicative of a current allocation of investments of an investor. For example, the current allocation data may indicate ratios of equity investments and non-equity investments to total investments of an individual investor. The monitoring module may access data indicative of criteria related to current allocation for initiation of the destination fund. In an embodiment, the criteria may provide for an investor's holdings to be transferred to a destination fund at an earlier age, or at a greater period of time prior to retirement, if the investor appears to have an excessively low percentage of investments in equities. For example, the criteria may include a threshold minimum percentage of equity holdings for investors within a certain age range or range of years until retirement. For example, the minimum percentage may be 60% of total investments in equities, and the age range may be 55 years to 60 years, or the range of years until retirement may be 5 to 10 years. If the criteria are met, the investor may be transferred into the destination fund, notwithstanding otherwise being below a minimum age threshold. In embodiments, the threshold percentage may vary, and the definition of the categories of holdings may vary. In embodiments, the time thresholds, such as age or time until retirement, may also vary.
Referring to
With respect to each of the accounts, after a period of time of at least about four years, and a period that may be 4, 5 or 6 years or a greater period, after activation of the account, a processor may store 820 in memory that a guarantee is applicable to the account. The guarantee may come into effect at a time which may be for example 5 years prior to the planned date of retirement or age of retirement of an investor, a predetermined age of the investor, or a predetermined date. The terms of such a guarantee may include those conditions discussed above. Various mechanisms to provide the guarantee may be provided, as discussed above.
With respect to each of the accounts, the process flow may include determining 825 whether the guarantee is applicable, and, responsive to determining that the guarantee is applicable, determining a premium for the guarantee. An output signal may be provided indicative of a premium amount to be deducted from the account. The premium may be a percentage of an asset value of the account calculated on a periodic basis, such as an annual basis. The premium may be deducted on the same period as the calculation, or may be deducted in fractional amounts, e.g., on a daily basis.
The flow may continue with accessing 830 from a memory device a predetermined threshold balance of the destination fund account. The balance may be predetermined in accordance with the guarantee. An account value of the destination fund account may be accessed 835 from a shareholder database. The predetermined threshold balance may be compared 840 to the account value. It may be determined based on the result of the comparison whether one or more guarantee payments in accordance with the guarantee are to be made. An output signal may be provided 845 including data indicative of the one or more guarantee payments. The signal may be provided to a payment fulfillment system. If the account value is at least as great as the threshold, the process flow may continue 850 monitoring the account value.
In an embodiment, a module may include one or more application programs, or one or more portions of one or more application programs, stored in a computer-readable medium and having instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute the steps described as being performed by the module.
The process descriptions and flow charts contained herein should not be considered to imply a fixed order for performing process steps. Rather, process steps may be performed in any order that is practicable.
The present invention is operable with computer storage products or computer readable media that contain program code for causing a processor to perform the various computer-implemented operations. The computer-readable medium is any data storage device that can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system such as a microprocessor. The media and program code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known to those of ordinary skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media; and specially configured hardware devices such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of program code include both machine code, as produced, for example, by a compiler, or files containing higher-level code that may be executed using an interpreter. Steps in the computer-implemented methods may be implemented in processors running software stored locally, and/or in configurations such as application service providers, in which certain steps are executed on processors communicating with one another over a network such as the Internet. Either standalone computers or client/server systems, or any combination thereof, may be employed.
A system in accordance with the invention may include means corresponding to each step in each method described herein. Each means may be implemented by processor 110 executing instructions contained in programs which may be stored in a storage medium, such as local memory 120 or data storage 130. It will be appreciated that any of the steps in the methods in accordance with the invention described herein may be so implemented.
An exemplary advantage of a method and system in accordance with an embodiment is that the equity mix of the destination fund provides superior returns compared with a prior art target fund, while simultaneously providing the security of the guarantee certificate.
The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A computer system for efficiently managing data processing and communications with an information technology server and a payment server, comprising:
- one or more data storage devices for storing investor data, destination fund account eligibility criteria, and guarantee payment eligibility criteria;
- one or more computer processors in communication with the one or more data storage devices;
- a communications device in communication with the one or more computer processors and the one or more data storage devices; and
- a memory, coupled to the one or more computer processors, storing program instructions which, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to: receive from a financial services information technology server data related to one or more investors including data indicative of target date fund accounts of the investors, wherein each target date fund account has a first predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments, and, after a time period, has a second predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments weighted more than the first predetermined ratio to non-equity investments; determine destination fund account eligibility based on the stored investor data and the stored destination fund account eligibility criteria, and responsive to an affirmative determination that the investor is eligible, provide output data indicative of eligibility; initialize, for eligible investors, destination fund accounts having a guarantee, the destination fund accounts being funded by proceeds of assets from the target date fund accounts, and store data indicative of the destination fund accounts in the one or more data storage devices; determine, based on the guarantee payment eligibility criteria and the data indicative of the destination fund accounts, whether at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made, and responsive to an affirmative determination that at least one guarantee payment is to be made, provide output data indicative of at least one guarantee payment to be made to a payment server computer system.
2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the memory stores further program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to:
- prompt a user to input the data related to the one or more investors; and
- prompt the user to select one of multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account.
3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to prompt the user to input the data related to the one or more investors comprises the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to prompt the user to input one or more of data indicative of an anticipated retirement date, data indicative of asset amounts, data indicative of a projected desired income, and data indicative of investor risk tolerance.
4. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to prompt the user to select one of multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account comprises the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to prompt the user to select from destination fund accounts invested in an equity/non-equity ratio in a range of 65/35 to 75/25 throughout an investor's retirement.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the memory further comprises program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to:
- monitor data indicative of an allocation of investments in the destination fund account;
- compare data indicative of a current allocation of the investments in the destination fund account to data indicative of the selected one of the multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account desired allocation; and
- responsive to the current allocation not satisfying the desired allocation, divest assets in one category and reinvest proceeds of the divested assets in a different category to maintain the investment allocation of the destination fund account within a range of the desired investment allocation.
6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more data storage devices stores data indicative of a predetermined threshold account value below which at least one guarantee payment is to be made;
- wherein the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to determine, based on the guarantee payment eligibility criteria and the data indicative of the destination fund accounts, whether at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made, comprises the memory storing program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to:
- monitor data indicative of a value of the destination fund account;
- compare the data indicative of the value of the destination fund account with the predetermined threshold account value;
- determine, based on the comparison, whether the value of the destination fund account is less than the predetermined threshold account value;
- responsive to a negative determination that the destination fund account is less than the predetermined threshold account value, continue to monitor the data indicative of the value of the destination fund account;
- responsive to an affirmative determination that the destination fund account is less than the predetermined threshold account value, generate a positive determination that at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made.
7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the memory further comprises program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to, prior to comparing the data indicative of the value of the destination account to the predetermined threshold account value, adjust the data indicative of the destination fund account value based on withdrawals from the destination fund account made by the investor.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the memory storing program instructions to cause the one or more computer processors to initialize the destination fund accounts having a guarantee further comprises the memory storing program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to:
- receive instructions for reallocating assets in the destination fund accounts according to a desired allocation at a predetermined date or time interval;
- compare current time data to the predetermined date or time interval; and
- responsive to the comparison of the current time data to the predetermined date or time interval, divest assets in one category and reinvest proceeds of the divested assets in a different category to maintain the investment allocation of the destination fund accounts within a range of the desired investment allocation.
9. A computer-implemented method for efficiently managing data processing and communications with an information technology server and a payment server, comprising:
- receiving, by one or more computer processors by a communications device from a financial services information technology server, data related to one or more investors including data indicative of target date fund accounts of the investors, wherein each target date fund account has a first predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments, and, after a time period, has a second predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments weighted more than the first predetermined ratio to non-equity investments;
- storing, by the one or more computer processors in one or more data storage devices, the received investor data; and
- determining, by the one or more computer processors, destination fund account eligibility based on the stored investor data and responsive to an affirmative determination that the investor is eligible, providing output data indicative of eligibility;
- initializing, by the one or more computer processors, for eligible investors, destination fund accounts having a guarantee, the destination fund accounts being funded by proceeds of assets from the target date fund accounts;
- storing, in the one or more data storage devices, data indicative of the destination fund accounts;
- determining, by the one or more computer processors, based on guarantee payment eligibility criteria stored in the one or more data storage devices and the data indicative of the destination fund accounts, whether at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made; and
- responsive to an affirmative determination that the at least one guarantee payment is to be made, providing, by the one or more computer processors, output data indicative of the at least one guarantee payment to be made to a payment server computer system.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:
- prompting, by the one or more computer processors, a user to input the data related to the one or more investors; and
- prompting, by the one or more computer processors, the user to select one of multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein prompting the user to input the data related to the one or more investors comprises prompting the user to input one or more of data indicative of an anticipated retirement date, data indicative of asset amounts, data indicative of a projected desired income, and data indicative of investor risk tolerance.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein prompting the user to select one of multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account comprises prompting the user to select from destination fund accounts invested in an equity/non-equity ratio in a range of 65/35 to 75/25 throughout an investor's retirement.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising:
- monitoring, by the one or more computer processors, data indicative of an allocation of investments in the destination fund account;
- comparing, by the one or more computer processors, data indicative of a current allocation of the investments in the destination fund account to data indicative of the selected one of the multiple allocation profiles for the destination fund account desired allocation; and
- responsive to the current allocation not satisfying the desired allocation, divesting, by the one or more computer processors, assets in one category and reinvesting, by the one or more computer processors, proceeds of the divested assets in a different category to maintain the investment allocation of the destination fund account within a range of the desired investment allocation.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein determining, based on the guarantee payment eligibility criteria and the data indicative of the destination fund accounts, whether at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made, comprises:
- monitoring, by the one or more computer processors, data indicative of a value of the destination account;
- comparing, by the one or more computer processors, the data indicative of the value of the destination account with a predetermined threshold account value;
- determining, by the one or more computer processors based on the comparison, whether the value of the destination account is less than the predetermined threshold account value;
- responsive to negative determination that the destination account is less than the predetermined threshold value, continuing to monitor the data indicative of the value of the destination account;
- responsive to an affirmative determination that the destination account is less than the predetermined threshold account value, generating a positive determination that at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising, prior to comparing the data indicative of the value of the destination account to the predetermined threshold account value, adjusting the data indicative of the destination fund account value based on withdrawals from the destination fund account made by the investor.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein initializing the destination fund accounts having a guarantee further comprises the memory storing program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to:
- receive instructions for reallocating assets in the destination fund accounts according to a desired allocation at a predetermined date or time interval;
- compare current time data to the predetermined date or time interval; and
- responsive to the comparison of the current time data to the predetermined date or time interval, divest assets in one category and reinvest proceeds of the divested assets in a different category to maintain the investment allocation of the destination fund accounts within a range of the desired investment allocation.
17. A computer system for efficiently managing data processing and communications with an information technology server and a payment server, comprising:
- one or more data storage devices for storing investor data, destination fund account eligibility criteria, and guarantee payment eligibility criteria;
- one or more computer processors in communication with the one or more data storage devices;
- a communications device in communication with the one or more computer processors and the one or more data storage devices; and
- a memory, coupled to the one or more computer processors, storing program instructions which, when executed by the one or more computer processors, cause the one or more computer processors to: receive, from a financial services information technology server, data related to one or more investors including data indicative of target date fund accounts of the investors, wherein each target date fund account has a first predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments, and, after a time period, has a second predetermined ratio of equity and non-equity investments weighted more than the first predetermined ratio to non-equity investments; determine destination fund account eligibility based on the stored investor data and the stored destination fund account eligibility criteria; divest, for eligible investors, assets of a target date fund account and reinvest proceeds of the divested assets in destination fund accounts having a guarantee; store data indicative of the destination fund accounts in the one or more data storage devices; determine, based on the guarantee payment eligibility criteria and the data indicative of the destination fund accounts, whether at least one guarantee payment associated with the destination fund account is to be made, and responsive to an affirmative determination that at least one guarantee payment is to be made, provide output data indicative of the at least one guarantee payment to be made to a payment server computer system.
18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the investor data comprises investor age data and planned retirement date data and wherein the memory storing program instructions to cause the processor to determine destination fund account eligibility comprises the memory storing program instruction which cause the processor to:
- determine whether the target date fund account has a percentage investment in equity investments below a predetermined threshold; and
- determine whether a current investor age is within a predetermined age range or is within a predetermined range of years until the planned retirement date.
19. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the guarantee payment eligibility criteria comprise a threshold minimum value of the target date fund account.
20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the memory stores further program instructions which cause the one or more computer processors to:
- effect, by the payment server computer system and responsive to receiving the output data including data indicative of the at least one guarantee payment, the at least one guarantee payment to a recipient in accordance with the output data.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 5, 2014
Publication Date: Nov 20, 2014
Inventors: Vernon Meyer (East Longmeadow, MA), Deborah Schunder (West Hartford, CT)
Application Number: 14/452,125
International Classification: G06Q 40/06 (20120101);