El Dorado Hills, Calif. - September 11, 2006 - VisualCalc, the leading provider of user-centric, web-based analysis software, today announced that it has partnered with The Newport Group to launch a new web-based, interactive retirement and personal financial planning solution designed specifically for retirement services and executive benefit providers.
Leveraging VisualCalc's technical capabilities in developing user-centric and intuitive, web-based graphical financial analysis software and Newport's extensive knowledge and experience in the retirement and executive benefits markets, they formed a joint product team to design and develop the industry's first interactive retirement and personal financial planning solution that fully integrates with a participant's qualified retirement and non-qualified deferred compensation accounts, as well as outside taxable and tax-deferred accounts. This solution provides a comprehensive, personal planning experience that covers all of an individual's retirement and non-retirement needs. This new personal planning solution also incorporates the actual investment menu available to the participant, as well as the current balance and asset allocation within each account.
"The Newport Group is recognized throughout their industry as a leader in technology innovation and providing its plan sponsors and participants with cutting edge, best-in-class capabilities and services," said AmitMazumdar, CEO of VisualCalc. "We are pleased to be able to partner with them in co-developing this new planning capability."
The Newport Group has recently integrated this co-developed online financial planning solution within its advanced client platform, plandestination.com, under the name Financial Planner. Newport, a leading retirement services and investment advisory firm, now offers this interactive web-based solution to all of its qualified retirement plan and non-qualified deferred compensation plan clients to help their plan participants answer the three most commonly asked questions:
- How much do I need to save?
- How should I invest my savings?
- How am I doing according to my plan?
Using a participant's current financial situation, and future financial goals, Newport's Financial Planner provides comprehensive, cashflow-basedprojections of the user's future financial picture and ability to achieve their retirement and non-retirement goals. The Planner also performs an asset allocation analysis of the participant's in-plan assets and recommends asset allocation and investment strategies according to the individual's risk profile. The user can then perform interactive "what if" analyses by modifying any number of variables and viewing, in real-time, the resulting changes to their projections and recommendations. And, since the Financial Planner is fully integrated within a participant's accounts, they can monitor the progress of their plan on a real-time basis as their account balances grow and change over time.
Through Newport's advisor portal, 3rd party investment advisors and broker-dealers can customize the planning projections and investment advice delivered to participants just by incorporating their own model portfolios/asset allocation strategies along with their respective risk/return assumptions.
"VisualCalc is a core component of our industry-leading online financial planning and advice solution," said Eric R. Brickman, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for The Newport Group. "VisualCalc's technology plartform, feature set and ability to integrate with our internal systems made it the ideal development partner for Newport and the right choice for our clients and strategic alliance partners."
About VisualCalc
VisualCalc (www.visualcalc.com) provides interactive, graphical website calculators, decision support tools, and guided selling solutions. Organizations can embed these intuitive tools on their website and other electronic media to help their customers and prospects effectively evaluate their products and services, leading them to the best possible purchasing decision. These online tools help organizations generate leads, close prospects, improve customer satisfaction, and optimize their product sales mix. VisualCalc’s calculators and tools feature an interactive, intuitive user interface that enables dynamic “what if” analysis, yet still offer universal platform support across both desktop and mobile devices. These tools can be fully customized for an organization’s functional requirements and branding standards. VisualCalc’s tools can also be integrated with 3rd party systems and databases, providing users with a personalized, comprehensive basis for their analysis. VisualCalc is a privately held company headquartered in El Dorado Hills, California.
About The Newport Group
Founded in 1984, The Newport Group is a leading retirement services and asset management firm-specializing in the creative design, funding, and administration of qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, as well as co-fiduciary investment advisory services. Through its strategic alliances and joint ventures with other firms in the financial services arena, Newport is uniquely positioned to satisfy the distinct financial needs of employers and employees, and has done so for hundreds of the country's largest and best-known companies.
For More Information on this Press Release:
Bob Bennett
Media Relations
VisualCalc, Inc.
916-939-2020
bob@visualcalc.com
