INSIGHT-Bank of America working hard on retirement

* BofA ramps up staff for retirement services

* IRA assets expected to reach $6.8 trillion in 2014

* More retirees using mobile devices to manage accounts

By Joe Rauch

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug 9 (Reuters) - Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC.N) is working hard on retirement.

The largest U.S. bank and one of the world's largest money-managers hired Putnam Investments executive David Tyrie last week to lead its personal retirement solutions unit.

The addition rounds out the bank's retirement team roughly a year after former Citigroup executive Andy Sieg was recruited by wealth management president Sallie Krawcheck, who put him in charge of one her top goals: make Merrill a bigger player in retirement services.

Tyrie's unit will create products and services designed to court the individual retirement investor, in a sector undergoing what Sieg calls a fundamental transformation.

"We've been talking about the retirement of the Baby Boomers for 20 years and now it's upon us," Sieg said in an interview with Reuters. "The expectations on how these people intend to live their post-work lives are causing changes across the industry."

The market for personal retirement services is evolving as the first wave of 76 million Americans born between 1945 and 1964 reach the age of 65 and exit the workforce.

Banks, insurers and brokerages are scrambling to capture retirement savings held in IRAs and company-sponsored accounts, such as the 401(k) plan, as they are expected to grow in the coming year.

Individual retirement accounts are projected to grow to $6.8 trillion by 2014 from $4.4 trillion in 2009, according to research firm Cerulli Associates.

Gaining hold of these assets would help generate years of management fees and opportunities for Bank of America to sell new products such as annuities.

Krawcheck, who runs the No. 2 U.S. brokerage force, has said advisers must become comprehensive financial planners rather than just brokers focused on stock picks or fund performance. That work also must be tied closely with the bank's other operations.

Sieg's division had $500 billion in assets as of June 30, and $13 billion in new plan commitments as of July from its institutional business. The division had also received 2,100 referrals from the global commercial bank through the first 7 months of the 2010.

CHANGING NEEDS

Sieg said the first wave of Baby Boomer retirees, along with their progeny, are changing how financial advisers approach retirement planning.

Retirees and those still actively working are becoming "pocket planners," he said tech-savvy people who use wireless devices such as Apple's iPad to access information about their accounts.

As cell phones now keep a bank customers' account information just a text message or application away, Sieg said customers are increasingly searching for the same kind of connectivity with their retirement accounts.

Banks and brokerages, he said, need to keep pace with customers no longer satisfied with quarterly or annual updates from their financial adviser.

"We, as an industry, need to work in the way (clients) desire," Sieg said.

Sieg said Tyrie's unit will assist in training advisers on retirement programs and services and will continue to selectively hire as the division grows.

Last month, the bank hired Rich Linton and Steve Ulian, former Fidelity Investments executives, to run the institutional retirement business under Sieg.

In his new post, Tyrie will coordinate between the bank's various arms, including the consumer banking operation, online brokerage Merrill Edge and Merrill's traditional wealth and investment management to create such services for customers.

Sieg said the desire for instant access is also driven by some long-term retiree fears.

Longer life spans are driving increasing concerns among retirees about living on savings and investments accrued during their work years, potentially for decades, with little help from corporate pension funds and other outside aid.

Sieg said Tyrie's post will focus on efforts such as the bank's push to link a Bank of America checking account with a Merrill brokerage account.

"For us, it's about marshaling the set of capabilities we do have and making it work," Sieg added. (Reporting by Joe Rauch; editing by Andre Grenon)