On Friday, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)’s shares declined -2.73% to $16.73.
New data released by Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) Merrill Lynch reveals that more employees are enrolling in their workplace benefit plans and looking to their employers for more access to information, education and assistance in managing their finances. In the first six months of 2015, employee workplace engagement was on the rise with a 44 percent1 enhance in the number of employees who enrolled for the first time in their employer’s 401(k) plan, according to the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch Plan Wellness Scorecard.2
The report, which reveals trends in employee behaviors and employers’ adoption of plan features during the first half of 2015, found that 401(k) plans aren’t the only employer-offered vehicles seeing noteworthy growth. As more companies offer high-deductible health plans, health savings account (HSA) usage grew by 42 percent contrast to the same period last year. While baby boomers have the highest HSA balances and the fastest balance growth, millennials now account for 33 percent of overall HSA enrollment, up from 9 percent in 2010. Roth accounts also saw a notable enhance during this time period, with a 21 percent enhance in the total number of contributors and a 20 percent enhance in the average contribution amount.
“We are happy to see employees, particularly in the younger generations, become more engaged with their employer-offered benefits year after year,” said Lorna Sabbia, head of Retirement and Personal Wealth Solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Employers play an integral role in the financial wellness of their employees. Planned plan design, counting diversification, automation and simplification, can make a tremendous impact in overall employee participation and engagement.”
Bank of America Corporation is a bank holding company. The company, through its auxiliaries, operates through Consumer and Business Banking; Consumer Real Estate Services; Global Wealth and Investment Administration; Global Banking; Global Markets; and Other segments. Its Consumer and Business Banking segment offers a range of deposits and consumer lending services. The company’s deposit offerings comprise consumer deposits and business banking.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX)’s shares dropped -3.31% to $59.82.
Starbucks Corporation, declared a noteworthy hiring milestone and investments to further bridge the gap between the military and civilians since only 12 percent of the U.S. public understands the service and sacrifice of the one percent who have served.1 The company has hired more than 5,500 veterans and military spouses, surpassing the halfway mark to reaching its commitment made in 2013 to hire 10,000 by 2018. Additionally, to better address the needs of partners (employees) who are active duty or reservists in the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard, Starbucks declared a new pay-for-service-benefit, which will cover up to 80 hours of pay each year for service obligations.
As a company that already offers a tuition-free education to eligible U.S. partners through the Starbucks College Achievement Plan, the company also shared recently that it is providing partners who are current or former members of the U.S. Armed Forces with an additional tuition-free education to extend to a spouse or child. More than 4,000 partners already take advantage of this education benefit in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) to earn a bachelor’s degree with 100 percent tuition coverage. ASU, with nearly 4,200 veterans and 1,000 military family members enrolled at the university, also demonstrates a strong commitment to veterans and military families through scholarships and the Pat Tillman Veterans Center and has been named one of the nation’s “Best for Vets” colleges by the Military Times.
Starbucks Corporation is the roaster, marketer and retailer of specialty coffee. The Company purchases and roasts coffees that it sells, along with coffee, tea and other beverages, and a range of fresh food items, through Company-operated stores.
At the end of Friday’s trade, Prima BioMed Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:PBMD)‘s shares surged 0.83% to $1.21.
Prima BioMed Ltd (ADR) (NASDAQ:PBMD) declares important progress in its partnership with NEC Corporation and Yamaguchi University in Japan. In this collaboration, first declared in May 2015, Prima’s IMP321 Antigen Presenting Cell activator (APC) is being combined with a therapeutic vaccine for different carcinoma types that was developed at Yamaguchi University.
The Yamaguchi/Prima partnership resulted from evidence that IMP321 at low doses can be used as a T cell adjuvant for cancer vaccines because of IMP321’s ability to activate dendritic cells1. Under the original May 2015 agreement, scientists at Yamaguchi University and NEC have designed and conducted in vivo studies of the combination, in work supported by NEC Corporation. Favourable safety data from these studies has now resulted in a decision to progress the vaccine into clinical research. Under a new Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), Yamaguchi University will now work towards clinical research in cancer patients, which will be initiated in Japan in the first quarter of 2016. As with the in vivo work, this proof-of-concept research will be supported by NEC Corporation.
Marc Voigt, Chief Executive of Prima, welcomed the signing of the new MTA: “We are very happy with the progress our collaborators at Yamaguchi University have made in just six months of work. We see noteworthy upside from this work for cancer patients, given the current limited treatment options for many tumour types and the ease with which we think IMP321 can be used in combination with other therapies.”
Yamaguchi University President Dr Masaaki Oka commented, “I am proud of our teams’ work in cancer vaccines, given the increasing importance of immuno-oncology to the future of cancer medicine. We thank Prima BioMed and NEC Corporation for their support and look forward to continued progress.”
Prima BioMed Ltd. researches, develops, and commercializes medical biotechnology products in Australia. The company develops immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. Its lead product candidate is IMP321, a recombinant protein, which is in phase II clinical trials in metastatic breast cancer when used as a chemo-immunotherapy.