Janus has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to introduce two new low-cost share classes aimed at helping advisors comply with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. The firm expects the share classes, named P and Z, will be available in late March, given the SEC approves them. Similar to other firms’ newly launched “T Shares,” P Shares has a lower-commission schedule than existing A shares on all purchases. It includes a 12b-1 fee of 25 basis points. Z Shares, or what Janus calls the “Clean Share” is the lowest-cost share class offered to qualified and non-qualified retail accounts, with no embedded commission option, 12b-1 or sub-transfer agent fees. It only includes a management fee and other asset manager operational expenses, the company says.
Oranj Upgrades Digital Advice Platform
The latest upgrade to Oranj’s digital advice platform introduces new technology to its user interface that is intended to improve collaboration between advisors and clients. The interface powers redesigned dashboards that can now aggregate real-time data and present it in a single-page format. Advisors can now transfer held-away accounts with a single click, and Oranj said it improved the goal-tracking workflows to make it more user-friendly. In a statement about the update, Andrew Miller, the founder and CEO of Olio Financial Planning, said the updates help him better connect with clients. “Our clients don't want to have to read long and complex reports. They want to understand their investments and overall financial well-being in an easily digestible way.”
Former MetLife Financial Planner Sentenced to 7 Years in Jail for Bank Robberies Digital Camera
A former financial planner for MetLife in West Hartford, Conn., was sentenced to seven years in jail for robbing the same bank twice in two weeks, according to the Hartford Courant. Kevin Baker, 46, a former regional vice president for MetLife, developed an opiate addiction starting in 2010 and robbed the bank to try to alleviate his crushing debt. He actually started taking opiates for a back injury in 1999, and previously dealt with alcohol, marijuana and cocaine addictions. A father of four daughters and mentor to others in his MetLife practice, he pleaded for leniency at his sentencing hearing. However, prosecutors said he also lived beyond his means, with a half-million-dollar house and expensive cars. "These robberies were as much about continuing that lifestyle as continuing his drug addiction," prosecutor Vicki Melchiorre said.
