Monday, September 8, 2008

Financial tech vets launch LifeYield

A Boston-based financial technology provider focused on serving wealth management firms and advisers has launched. The company, LifeYield LLC, was founded by local tech veterans Mark Hoffman, Paul Samuelson and Michael Benedek.

Previously, those three founded and managed asset management technology provider Upstream Technologies LLC, which was founded in 1999 and acquired last year by Atlanta-based CheckFree Services Corp. for $28 million. Hoffman also founded Lattice Trading Inc., which was acquired by State Street Bank and Trust Co. in 1996.

LifeYield provides web-based tools designed to streamline “decumulation” activity — the process of raising cash from an investment portfolio. The company’s application employs a premium income distribution process that combines a multipoint tax strategy with risk factors when identifying those assets to sell every period in generating a recurring income.

An aging U.S. population combined with the emergence of a larger affluent class are creating a demand for such tools, officials said. A 2005 survey by Fidelity Investments indicated that 43 percent of an adviser’s clients were retired or expected to retire within five years. Cambridge-based Forrester Research and other industry researchers estimate a mass affluent segment that has grown to more than 29 million households and is anticipated to grow to 35 million households by 2020, officials said.