If you're going into retail, there's nothing like doing it in a really big way.
That's the latest move of Nobel laureate Bill Sharpe's firm, Financial Engines Inc., which has teamed up with Time Warner Inc., New York, to offer investment advice via the Internet.
With Time Warner's and Forbes' magazines, Financial Engines will provide fairly sophisticated portfolio returns forecasting and customized investment advice at money.com and Fortune.com. Mr. Sharpe's simulation model tracks the investments in the person's portfolio, generates thousands of potential economic scenarios and then forecasts what those investments will be worth under certain circumstances.
Investors can also get 401(k) plan investment advice through a link to the subscription-only Financial Engines Investment Advisor service at www.financialengines.com. Financial Engines, Palo Alto, Calif., previously offered personalized investment advice to 401(k) plan participants only via their employers. It is only this summer that the company opened up its service to individual Internet subscribers for a cost around $60 a year.
The hard copy edition of Money magazine has 1.9 million subscribers and readership of 8.7 million people, providing to Financial Engines a huge pool of potential subscribers. Money promotes its Web site heavily in its print editions.
