Investment Instruments

SCI Companies is now offering open architecture 401(k) plans to its clients and their employees.

The company made huge advances in whole life, annuity and mutual fund sales - each up 17 percent from last year - as well as strong agent recruitment.

Fidelity Investments launched a new program, Plan for Life, which guides people participating in workplace retirement plans to help them reach their financial goals.

Annuity sales were up 4 percent in the second quarter, to $57 billion, but are down from the same period last year, with 2012 total sales of $112 billion.

Some 1,300 workers at a bankrupt Greenwich, Conn.-based newsprint company will receive future benefits through the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, according to an announcement Tuesday.

The South Dakota Retirement System's assets dropped slightly in the past year after modest investment gains were offset by the cost of paying benefits to retirees.

The American College's new RICP designation provides certification for retirement income planners in a three-part course.

One of the nation's top credit rating agencies said it expects more municipal bankruptcies and defaults in California, the nation's largest issuer of municipal bonds.