Products July 5, 2011

Firms Partner to Provide Fee Disclosure Solution

Castle Rock Innovations (CRI) and Millennium Investment and Retirement Advisors (MIRA) will collaborate to provide turnkey 408(b)(2) fiduciary analytics and consulting services.
Reported by

CRI says that the partnership will boost its AXIS Retirement Plan Analytic Platform, which was developed to address the Department of Labor’s 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements.  MIRA’s Fiduciary Analytics Consulting Services (FACS) will provide dedicated 408(b)(2) and independent fiduciary support and oversight, integrated with AXIS’ data processing and reporting services for broker/dealer and registered investment adviser (RIA) firms.

ERISA §404(a) and §408(b)(2) require plan fiduciaries to evaluate if their service/cost arrangements made with their 401(k) providers are reasonable. According to the announcement, FACS provides assurance of these facts for every 401(k) plan. The service will provide plan setup and review of every fund lineup, including benchmarking services, to ensure that each service provider arrangement is fully ERISA compliant. The service will also provide support for advisers that are servicing each plan.

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“We recognize that Investment Advisor relationships and compensation will be scrutinized under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5),” said Rick Canipe and James Holland, principals of FACS. “This tool will arm them with the cost and service benchmarks needed to demonstrate their value to retain and take market share. Beyond that, AXIS can also quickly identify those plans that are vulnerable.”

Deals & People July 5, 2011

MetWest Closes Acquisition of Investment Adviser

MetWest Ventures LLC announced it has acquired a majority interest in Reed Conner & Birdwell, LLC (RCB).
Reported by

Los Angeles-based RCB is a value equity investment adviser with $1.6 billion under management. MetWest reports that the principals of Aristotle Capital Management, another of its affiliates, are expected to join RCB’s management team during the next several months.  

Richard S. Hollander, Chairman and founder of MetWest Ventures, will become Chairman of RCB, and Richard Schweitzer will serve as CFO and Chief Compliance Officer at RCB.  RCB’s senior investment team will remain in place, managing clients’ portfolios and actively participating in the business.  

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“The anticipated integration of these two successful investment platforms, in conjunction with the resources of MetWest Ventures, is expected to provide benefits to all areas of the firm including investment research, trading, client service, back office and product distribution,” said Hollander. “Ultimately, creating what we believe is a stronger investment management company with improved products and services.” 

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