SAN FRANCISCO - The automated online investment adviser mPower has announced that it was selected to offer retirement recommendations to consumers through the new CNBC on MSN Money financial portal.
This is to be the first direct channel to consumers for the six-year-old, privately held company, which until now has presented its application only on the Web sites of 401(k) plan sponsors, said senior vice president Neal Ringquist. "You have to get people engaged first through the public channels," he said.
Users enter information about their investments, age, risk tolerance, and the like so that the application can do such functions as estimating how their portfolios would have performed during periods like the Gulf War or the disco years, Mr. Ringquist said. The projections are based on data from Lipper Analytical Services.
The application is "not only informative and rich in functionality, it's also very engaging," Mr. Ringquist said.
People who want security-specific recommendations from the mPower advice engine will be asked to pay $20 a year.
Microsoft Corp. added the mPower service in conjunction with its relaunching of what used to be called MSN Moneycentral. The reflagged online service is also absorbing the Web site for CNBC, NBC's financial news channel. Microsoft and NBC are already partners in a Web and cable venture, MSNBC.
