Deals & People October 4, 2024

Retirement Industry People Moves – 10/4/24

ICI promotes Antoniewicz to chief economist; T. Rowe Price names Thomson head of new investment institute; Nationwide hires East Coast institutional sales head; and more.

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ICI Names Shelly Antoniewicz as Chief Economist

Shelly Antoniewicz

The Investment Company Institute has named Rochelle “Shelly” Antoniewicz its chief economist, replacing Sean Collins, who will become a senior adviser.

Separately, the institute named Shane Worner senior director of industry and financial analysis; he will move to its Washington, D.C., office from its Brussels office, where his title was senior economist.

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Antoniewicz is an ICI veteran, starting in 2005 and holding several positions, including senior economist and senior director of industry and financial analysis. Before ICI, she spent 13 years as a staff economist and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Board.

Collins had been ICI’s chief economist since 2017; he first joined the institute in 2000 after being a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Board. His work as chief economist focused on “the flows, assets, fees, and industrial organization of registered investment companies; financial market issues; the costs and benefits of laws and regulations governing funds; money market funds; and financial stability,” according to the announcement.

Worner joined ICI in 2023 after working at the International Organization of Securities Commissions coordinating IOSCO’s engagement in international asset management policy initiatives.

T. Rowe Price Taps Thomson to Lead New Investment Institute

Justin Thomson

T. Rowe Price’s Justin Thomson, head of international equity and chief investment officer, has been appointed head of a new investment institute.

The T. Rowe Price Investment Institute was announced October 1, with the goals of “enhancing the firm’s investment talent development” and “strengthening the delivery” to clients of its investment insights. The institute will launch at the start of 2025.

Thomson, who has been with the firm for 26 years, will lead the creation of a charter for the institute and then its work to curate and highlight T. Rowe’s investment insights and create educational content for clients and T. Rowe’s own investment professionals. The institute will also pursue partnerships and engagements on topics including “portfolio construction, behavioral finance, geopolitics, and others,” according to the announcement.

“Risks are everywhere in the markets today,” Thomson said in a statement. “More than ever, investors and advisers need a place where they can find timely and actionable insights from people who are on the ground asking the right questions of the companies that are shaping the present and future of the financial markets and global economies.”

Nationwide Taps Kelly for Institutional Sales Director East

Tom Kelly

Nationwide Retirement Solutions has hired Tom Kelly as institutional sales team director covering the East region.

Institutional sales are focused on Nationwide’s 401(k) and not-for-profit 403(b) plans with more than $25 million in assets under management. Kelly will report to Oscar Rodriguez, head of the division.

Kelly joins with 30 years of retirement plan industry experience, including at Transamerica and, most recently, Conduent HR Services. 

401GO Names Joseph Marullo Chief of Staff

Joe Marullo

Plan provider 401GO has named Joseph Marullo as chief of staff to work with leadership on operations, team management and the execution of strategic priorities.

Marullo joins from HealthFleet, where he was most recently vice president for strategic planning and operations. He also served as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Army while on active duty from 2004 through 2012 and served in the U.S. Army Reserves for an additional six years.

Marullo joins 401GO shortly after the firm completed a $12 million Series A financing round, with his hiring reinforcing “the company’s commitment to attracting top talent as it continues to innovate and disrupt the financial services industry,” according to the announcement.

IRI Announces New Board Members

Tim Froehlich

The Insured Retirement Institute announced two new members of its board of directors.

Tim Froehlich, managing director and head of insurance and annuities, wealth and investment management at Wells Fargo, will join the ICI’s board.

Colleen Tycz, senior vice president and head of strategic partnerships and insurance distribution at Franklin Templeton, will also join.

Colleen Tycz

“Tim and Colleen bring solid industry experience and energy to the IRI Board of Directors,” Wayne Chopus, IRI’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “They are joining a highly motivated and engaged group of leaders. I look forward to their contributions and guidance to help IRI navigate our industry’s evolving challenges and opportunities in the months and years ahead.”

Data & Research October 4, 2024

Private Real Estate Assets in DC Plans Valued at $36.4B

A survey of real estate investment managers found inflows holding steady as the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.

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Defined Contribution assets invested in private real estate fund products were worth $36.4 billion in 2023, according to a survey considering the relatively rare DC investment.

The survey, led by the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council, drew on responses from 24 real estate investment management firms; the organization did not have a comparable figure for the year prior due to survey adjustments.

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The report also found that 63.6% of the asset managers saw net inflows into the investment for the year, with 36.4% showing outflows. The fund inflows came mostly from existing DC plan investors, according to the report, with new investor flows into dedicated DC private real estate funds falling in 2023 to 0.3% from 9.4% of inflows.

Greg Jenkins, co-president of the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council and head of institutional defined contribution at Invesco, was heartened by the inflows overall in what he saw as a challenging year for private real estate, especially for offices.

“We are starting to see renewed interest on the part of DC plans investing in the real estate market,” Jenkins said. “Sentiment is trending positively as interest rates begin to fall and we move further away from the pandemic.”

The report is produced by real estate industry organizations DCREC, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers, the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries and the Pension Real Estate Association.

Seeking Real Estate

DCREC and the other survey sponsors advocate for private real estate exposure as beneficial to DC plan participants for diversification and because it has the potential for stronger returns.

Jenkins of Invesco says diversification is a goal of participants and plan sponsors alike, with private markets generally a good opportunity to provide more return options. He notes, however, that the DC market push is not intended to include private assets as stand-alone investments, but as exposure in DC-friendly investment vehicles.

“It’s really about using them in target-date portfolios and managed accounts where these assets can really do good for participants in the long term,” he says.

He says it was not a surprise that there were less new adopters of private market investments in DC accounts, but he believes there is positive interest that may show more comers in 2024.

“There are several managed account providers that are looking at alternatives and specifically private real estate because it has the precedents that some other investments don’t,” he says. “It’s often the first stop on the train that many people are thinking about when they are thinking about private markets.”

In a participant pulse survey released by Invesco in September, the firm found that younger participants expect more customization in their retirement investing, something Jenkins says points to desire for more diversification via solutions such as managed accounts.

The survey showed that 63% of Millennials want their investments to be aligned with their personal goals, as compared to 49% of those in Generation X and 42% of Baby Boomers. The firm surveyed 583 large DC plan participants.

Land Grab

The DCREC report found that, as of 2023, the typical real estate fund dedicated to DC investors held 85% of assets in private real estate, with 12% in listed real estate investment trusts, or REITs.

The investment managers participating in the survey do not all offer DC market products. In total, 45.8% actively manage DC capital; 37.5% are considering developing a product; 12.5% are actively developing an offer; and 4.2% have no intention of pursuing a DC offer.

The survey respondents in the private real estate report represented more than $1.5 trillion in AUM and responded to the survey from May through July 2024.

Total DC plan assets in the U.S., as of the most recent Investment Company Institute data, stand at $11.3 trillion.

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