Products June 20, 2016

Fidelity Adds Funds and Share Classes to Index Lineup

Fidelity is launching three new low-cost index funds. 
Reported by

Fidelity Investments announced a series of enhancements to its line-up of index mutual funds, including the launch of three new equity funds, replacing the Spartan brand name, and expanding the availability of institutional share classes.

With the expansion, the firm now offers 19 equity, fixed-income and hybrid index mutual funds, 13 Fidelity Freedom Index Funds, and 12 passive ETFs.

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Colby Penzone, senior vice president for Fidelity’s Investment Product Group, says the enhancements build on Fidelity’s ongoing commitment to “provide access to a wide-array of high-quality, low-cost index funds, as well as managed solutions.”

The three new funds are the Fidelity Large Cap Growth Index Fund, the Fidelity Large Cap Value Index Fund, and the Fidelity Total International Index Fund. Each new fund is offered with multiple share classes “at very competitive prices.” These include both institutional ($5 million minimum investment, generally) and “institutional premium” ($100 million and up) share classes.  

“Each fund will attempt to replicate the performance of its respective index, before expenses, by normally investing at least 80% of its assets in securities included in the index,” the firm explains.

Additional details include the following:

  • Fidelity Large Cap Growth Index Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the total return of stocks of large capitalization U.S. companies. The fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in securities included in the Russell 1000 Growth Index.
  • Fidelity Large Cap Value Index Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the total return of stocks of large capitalization U.S. companies. The fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in securities included in the Russell 1000 Value Index.
  • Fidelity Total International Index Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond to the total return of foreign developed and emerging stock markets. The fund will normally invest at least 80% of its assets in securities included in the MSCI ACWI (All Country World Index) ex USA Investable Market Index (IMI) and in depository receipts representing securities included in the index.

Additionally, Fidelity has replaced the “Spartan” brand within its line-up of index mutual funds with the Fidelity name. For example, the Spartan 500 Index Fund is now named the Fidelity 500 Index Fund. “This move creates consistency in branding across Fidelity’s diverse product line,” according to the firm. “As part of this effort, Fidelity has also renamed two of its four underlying index fund share classes. The Fidelity Advantage Class has been renamed ‘Premium Class’ and the Fidelity Advantage Institutional Class has been renamed ‘Institutional Premium Class.’”

Finally, Fidelity also expanded the availability of its index mutual fund line-up. Effective immediately, the company’s Institutional share classes (Institutional and Institutional Premium) are available to investors on and off the Fidelity platform, both retail and intermediary, provided they meet eligibility requirements.

For more information about, visit www.fidelity.com. 

Deals & People June 20, 2016

Retirement Industry People Moves

The Segal Group announces new president and CEO; USI Consulting names vice president and actuary; Hyas Group hires senior consultant; and Merrill Lynch staffs new financial wellness role.

 

Reported by

The Segal Group Announces New President and CEO

The board of directors of The Segal Group announced that David Blumenstein has been named president and CEO, effective October 1.

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Blumenstein will succeed Joseph A. LoCicero, who has been president and since 2006. LoCicero will continue with the firm as chairman, and Howard Fluhr, president and CEO before LoCicero, and currently chairman, will transition to chairman emeritus, a role also held by another former president and CEO, Robert D. Krinsky.

“David has served in various leadership roles at The Segal Group and greatly contributed to the firm’s success. He has a strong understanding of our business needs in all markets going forward,” said Fluhr.

Blumenstein has more than 27 years’ experience at Segal. He is currently the national director of multiemployer consulting, where he has overseen growth of much of Segal’s business and consulted with multiemployer funds including health plans, defined benefit (DB) pension plans and defined contribution (DC) plans. He also serves on the board of directors.

Blumenstein graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and subsequently took courses of study at Harvard University and the Center for Creative Leadership. He is a frequent speaker at benefits conferences and other industry forums and a published author on both health care and retirement benefit topics.

The Segal Group is a private, employee-owned consulting firm.

NEXT: USI Consulting Names Vice President and Actuary

David Woodmansee Jr., EA, FCA, MAAA, joined USI Consulting Group as vice president and actuary in the firm’s defined benefit (DB) practice.

Woodmansee has worked for nearly 30 years in the actuarial and defined benefits field and has broad experience in pension consulting—including cash balance transition, early retirement windows, creation of nonqualified plans and helping to develop liability-driven investing (LDI) strategies. Prior to joining USI Consulting, he worked for 16 years as an enrolled actuary at a major insurance company.

Woodmansee is also a regular presenter at the annual Enrolled Actuaries Conference in Washington D.C., a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, and a fellow in the Conference of Consulting Actuaries.

NEXT: Hyas Group Hires Senior Consultant

The Hyas Group added Ned Taylor as a senior consultant to its institutional plan consulting team. Taylor will be based in Portland, Oregon, and will be responsible for growing and servicing the Hyas Group’s corporate, governmental and not-for-profit plan clientele.

Taylor has experience working with plan sponsor decisionmakers on enhancements in retirement plan participation, deferral increases and strategic education. “Looking at retirement plans from the perspective of optimizing outcomes for participants has been his focus for over a decade and something we are excited about Ned building on at the Hyas Group,” said Jayson Davidson, citing Taylor’s “commitment to client service, his integrity and his expertise.”

Taylor has more than 18 years of experience in the investment and plan design consulting areas. He worked the past 10 years at The Standard and, before that, more than five at Columbia Funds.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and currently sits on the board of the Portland Chapter of the Western Pension & Benefits Council.

The Hyas Group is a specialized consulting firm, focusing on institutional investment consulting clients.

NEXT: Merrill Lynch Staffs New Financial Wellness Role

Matt Leckrone joined Merrill Lynch‘s retirement and personal wealth solutions group in the newly created role of workplace relationship executive.

As the financial wellness of employees is an increasing focus for companies, Leckrone will partner with Bank of America’s global corporate banking and its clients to build relationships with human resources (HR) executives to deliver a holistic range of benefits, financial planning programs and wealth and banking services, as part of a comprehensive financial wellness program. He will report to Kevin Crain, head of institutional retirement and business solutions.

Previously, Leckrone served as global benefits executive for Bank of America, leading the 401(k), deferred compensation and defined benefit (DB) programs, as well as managing the recognition and reward strategies. Before joining Bank of America, he was a senior consultant at Mercer, where he focused on executive benefits and was the national thought leader in deferred compensation and executive benefits and compensation program design.

Leckrone received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University – Bloomington. He is an investment actuary and a member of Bank of America’s Retirement Client Advisory Council.

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