Products July 17, 2015

Envestnet Unveils Fund Strategist Network

The ERS Fund Strategist Network from Envestnet gives retirement plan advisers scalable access to intellectual capital from more than 60 institutional managers.
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Envestnet Retirement Solutions has introduced the ERS Fund Strategist Network, a roster of institutional-grade and boutique strategic and dynamic fund strategists. The platform gives retirement plan advisers access to quality unitized fund strategist portfolios, which are monitored by ERS.

After the strategist assessment is completed, fund strategists in the network submit their models of mutual funds and/or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to ERS, which facilitates trading and unitization for these portfolios through its model management system. In addition, ERS serves as the 3(38) investment manager on behalf of 401(k) plan sponsors for the fund strategist portfolios available through the platform.

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Envestnet has been providing financial advisers with flexible, efficient and scalable access to intellectual capital from more than 60 institutional managers through its Envestnet Fund Strategist Network, and now offers a similar service for retirement plan advisers, says Babu Sivadasan, group president of ERS.

“Given the adoption of the fiduciary standard and prudent investment practices in the retirement industry, we believe the network can help broker/dealers, banks and trusts, and retirement advisers to truly act in the best interests of plan sponsors and participants,” Sivadasan said in a statement.

The ERS model management framework forms the basis of ModelTool(k)it, a modeling and unitization solution for mutual fund- and ETF-based portfolios available through Matrix Financial Solutions, a Broadridge Financial Solutions company. ModelTool(k)it was brought to market in August 2014 through a strategic alliance between ERS and Matrix Financial Solutions, which offers access to the ERS Fund Strategist Network. 

On ERS Fund Strategist Network’s current lineup are: 3D Asset Management, Beaumont Capital Management, CLS Investments, Efficient Market Advisors, Fund Evaluation Group, Horizon Investments, Madison Asset Management, Russell Investments, Sage Advisory and Standard & Poor’s Investment Advisory Services LLC. Additional fund strategists may be approved for inclusion. 

More information about ERS and the ERS Fund Strategist Network is available at the website of Envestnet.

The Markets July 17, 2015

Expect at Least $1T Demand for Custom Investments

The market for investment services devised to meet specific institutional client objectives will grow by more than $1 trillion over the next five years, predicts global analytics firm Cerulli Associates.
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The market for investment services devised to meet specific institutional client objectives will grow by more than $1 trillion over the next five years, predicts global analytics firm Cerulli Associates.

Custom solutions assets have more than doubled since 2010, and asset growth is projected to be substantial, points out Alexi Maravel, associate director at Cerulli Associates, with assets under management forecast to approach $3 trillion by 2020. “The substantial growth in assets from a relatively low base is a consistent theme in conversations we’ve had with institutions and their service providers,” he says.

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“Institutional Custom Solutions 2015: The Drive Towards Objectives-Based Solutions” examines how and why asset managers, investment consultants and other firms are spending millions to build the resources necessary to provide investment strategies more tailored to the unique needs of institutions.

The report defines the U.S. market for custom solutions and analyzes the growth of the various functions that comprise custom solutions, including multi-asset-class solutions (MACS), outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO), liability driven investing (LDI), and pension risk transfer (PRT)/defined benefit plan resolution transactions.

“For such an ill-defined discipline, custom solutions have the potential to upend decades-old practices of asset managers and investment consultants used in assisting institutional investors in meeting their goals,” Maravel says.

Respondents to Cerulli’s proprietary survey report more than 58% growth in custom solutions client assets during the past year, as well as the winning of an average of 13.4 solutions mandates during the same time period, according to Maravel. Given these figures, it is not surprising that firms overseeing custom solutions assets today are so bullish about the future, he says.

More information about “Institutional Custom Solutions 2015: The Drive Towards Objectives-Based Institutional Solutions,” including how to purchase, is at Cerulli’s site.

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