The Ohio-based money management firm developed the service in response to strong demand from advisers and retirement plan sponsors seeking expert advice on selecting and monitoring the investment options available to plan participants. Under Section 3(38) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), plan sponsors can delegate the management of plan investment options to a qualified investment manager.
“We are extremely excited to offer this service to our clients as the need has become more prevalent in light of recent disclosure and regulatory changes,” said Ron Sala, senior vice president of Sales for Meeder. “This valuable service alleviates pressure and liability for the plan sponsor allowing them to focus on key responsibilities such as plan administration and participant education.”
The new service is available on a variety of retirement platforms based on plan size. Among other services, the new fiduciary service offers the development of an investment policy statement and initial core lineup of funds and portfolios, ongoing monitoring and reporting, and active management of diversified model portfolios.
Independent broker/dealers and
RIAs continued outpacing wirehouse firms in long-term mutual fund asset growth
in the first quarter, according to Access Data and Strategic Insight.
Long-term mutual fund assets distributed by independent/regional
broker/dealers (IBDs) and registered investment advisers (RIAs) continued to
grow at a faster pace than the wirehouse channel in the first quarter of 2013, according
to data released by Access Data and Strategic Insight, an Asset International
company.
Accelerated growth for the independent distribution channels versus
wirehouse channel was first identified by Access Data earlier this year when
the firm released a study showing the IBD and RIA channels adding assets under
management at twice the rate as the wirehouse channel. During the first quarter
of 2013, the trend continued, with mutual fund assets in the IBD and RIA
channels increasing 9% and 8%, respectively, compared to the wirehouse channel,
which experienced a 6.5% increase during the quarter.
According to Access Data’s Market Intelligence data, first-quarter 2013
long-term mutual fund assets under management at IBDs and RIAs rose to $1.54 trillion and $1.24 trillion,
respectively, compared with $1.41 trillion and $1.15 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The wirehouse channel accounted for $1.20 trillion
in the first quarter, compared with $1.13 trillion
in the previous quarter.
“RIAs and IBDs continue to be a driving force behind the growth of retail
mutual fund sales, demonstrated by the increase of mutual fund assets under
management in these channels at the end of the first quarter of 2013,” said Frank Polefrone, senior vice president of Access Data.
Fund firms can more effectively utilize sales and marketing resources to
accelerate growth of assets under management with a better understanding of
which channels drive growth, Polefrone said. “We’re seeing our mutual fund and
ETF clients take notice of the accelerated growth in the RIA and IBD channel
and, as a result, put more dollars toward reaching these channels,” he said.
As investor confidence improved, net flows to stock and bond mutual funds
set an all-time quarterly flows record at $193 billion
during the first quarter of 2013, according to Avi
Nachmany, executive vice president and director of research at Strategic
Insight.
“Independent advisers were key contributors to this growth, as
independent/regional broker/dealers brought in an estimated $43 billion of net inflows to long-term funds in the
first quarter and RIAs deposited an additional $26 billion,”
Nachmany said. “As the scope of adviser-sold fund
distribution continues to expand, the distribution data transparency offered by
Access Data, combined with analysis from Strategic Insight, has been widely
adopted and has become essential in helping our clients formulate both
strategic and tactical action plans, and identify the best growth opportunities
by channel, distributor, and product type.”
The data also revealed that California, Colorado, Massachusetts
and New York are the top states in rank order of
assets under management (AUM) by RIAs of long-term mutual funds and exchange-traded
funds (ETFs). These states represent more than 40% of total mutual fund and ETF
AUM by RIAs.
Access Data’s Market Intelligence provides fund firms with a complete
industry view, tracking more than 90% of long-term mutual fund and ETF asset
positions and net flows. The offering calculates market share by channel,
intermediary and product, performs peer group comparisons and analysis by
Morningstar category, and estimates market penetration across multiple data
sets, all the way down to the firm and office location.
Access Data Corp., a Broadridge Financial Solutions company, offers mutual
funds and ETFs exclusive insight into assets and net flows to pinpoint the best
opportunities in fast-growing market segments. More information is available at
their website.
Strategic Insight provides research on the mutual fund industry and business
intelligence.