Providing Personalized on-line investment advice for 401(k) participan

[Guest Kennedy]

My organization is seeking to contract with an online custom investment advice provider to benefit a growing portion of our 165,000 401(k) plan participants . We are considering Morningstar, MPower and Financial Engines. Would anyone care to share experiences/opinions on these providers? Also, if you have any recommendations of other potential providers, I would be grateful for your input. Thanks.

[Guest Chuck Miller]

I think Morningstar is more of an information service than advisory... Financial Engines is widely used but is based primary on the work of one man (albeit a Nobel prize winner) and his investment model...

One more service you could investigate is 401k Forum....www.401kforum.com...

[Greg Judd]

I don't represent Financial Engines, & have no clients who currently use their services, but I've long admired their particular wedding of internet technologies to economic modelling.

While Prof. Sharpe can lay claim to the economic modeling underlying Financial Engines 'engine', the firm's work isn't that of one man; FE has recruited some high-powered talent, including former DOL officials, to serve its client list, which is still in fact quite brief.

The feature that distinguishes FE's modeling approach from its competitors is the attention it pays to the RANGE of possible investment outcomes for any given set of holdings--a nod to reality that in my judgment no one else addresses nearly as effectively.

[This message has been edited by Greg Judd (edited 05-31-2000).]