Deals & People December 21, 2018

Retirement Industry People Moves

Tech experts join PCS; DWS Group adds portfolio management head; CBIZ purchases Sequoia business unit; and more. 

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Art by Subin Yang

Art by Subin Yang

Tech Experts Join PCS

Edmond Walters, founder and former CEO of eMoney Advisor, has joined the Board of Directors for Professional Capital Services LLC (PCS), while 18-year retirement industry veteran, Rishi Chaturvedi, has been named chief technology offer for the firm’s executive team.

Mark Klein, CEO of PCS, says the firm will call on Walters to build capabilities that help advisers deliver the retirement outcomes their clients hope for.

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eMoney Advisor, a financial planning software platform for advisers, was acquired by Fidelity Investments in 2015.  

Prior to joining PCS, Chaturvedi was managing director, digital and analytical services at Anexinet. A holder of two U.S. patents, he has designed and led global rollouts of strategic enterprise level platforms throughout his career.  In 2014, Chaturvedi was honored with an American Financial Technology Award for best mobile strategy initiative.

DWS Group Adds Portfolio Management Head

Dokyoung (Dok) Lee has joined the DWS Group as the head of portfolio management for the U.S. multi-asset and solutions group. Based in New York, Lee reports to Mark Roberts, co-head of multi-asset and solutions and head of research and strategy for alternatives. In the newly created position, Lee oversees the U.S.-based team of portfolio managers for DWS’s multi-asset funds.

“We have seen increasing demand from clients for customized solutions that link our active, index investing and alternatives capabilities,” Roberts explains.

Prior to joining DWS, Lee co-managed a group funds at the global multi-asset group at Oppenheimer Funds. Earlier in his career, he has also held a series of positions at AllianceBernstein, leading research efforts in strategic asset allocation and serving as an equity portfolio manager across value strategies in emerging markets, Japanese and U.S. equities. 

CBIZ Purchases Sequoia Business Unit

CBIZ Inc. has acquired Sequoia Institutional Services (SIS), a business unit of Sequoia Financial Group LLC, effective December 1.

Founded in 2010 and based in Akron, Ohio, SIS provides retirement plan investment advisory services.

Jerry Grisko, president and CEO of CBIZ, says the addition of SIS to the existing team of retirement plan specialists will allow the firm to provide clients with a broader array of services backed by a larger team. 

Eagle Asset Management Names Managing Director

Eagle Asset Management has added James Camp as managing director of strategic income. Camp will also continue as managing director of fixed income, and his new title reflects an added focus on expanding the offering of specialized income products to meet the needs of investors. 

Camp has 29 years of industry experience with the majority spent at Eagle Asset Management. His current role includes portfolio manager of the Strategic Income Portfolio (SIP), a risk-focused investment program designed to seek stable and growing income as well as the potential for capital appreciation. Additionally, Camp is portfolio manager of the Vertical Income Portfolio (VIP), which aims to maximize an investor’s yield potential by using a capital-structure agnostic approach.

Ascensus Acquires TPA Firms for Solutions Division

Ascensus has entered into an agreement to acquire Moran Knobel and its subsidiary Means & Associates. The third-party administration (TPA) firms will immediately become part of Ascensus’ TPA Solutions Division.   

Based in Bellevue, Washington, Moran Knobel provides retirement plan consulting and administration services for safe harbor 401(k), profit sharing, cash balance, defined benefit (DB), 403(b), and all other Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-qualified plans. The firm also offers consulting and administration services for nonqualified and expatriate plans.

“Moran Knobel holds the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) seal of excellence for third-party administrators, as certified by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence LLC (CEFEX),” states Jerry Bramlett, head of TPA Solutions. 

Raghav Nandagopal, Ascensus’ executive vice president of corporate development and acquisitions, says the firm is focused on expanding its footprint in the West and Pacific Northwest.

PenChecks Reveals Management Team Changes

PenChecks Inc., parent company to PenChecks Trust, has announced two changes to its management team. Spiro Preovolos, a member of the PenChecks team for 17 years, has been promoted to president. Bryan Pruden, a former senior executive for Intel Corporation, SAIC and Celergy Networks, has been hired to serve as the company’s new COO.

Preovolos, who most recently was vice president of strategic development for PenChecks, will now oversee the information technology, product management and sales and marketing functions in his new role as president. His responsibilities will also include cultivating strategic partnerships that can enhance the company’s product and service offerings.

As COO, Pruden will oversee the company’s day-to-day operations, as well as the finance, client services and human resources functions. He will also be responsible for ensuring that PenChecks continues to deliver quality services. Pruden will also lead the company’s increased focus on growth through targeted mergers and acquisitions.

To complete the management transition, company founder Peter Preovolos is stepping out of the role of president while maintaining his status as chairman and CEO. He will now focus on the future direction of the company and mentoring the next generation of management.

Products December 20, 2018

Investment Product and Service Launches

Vanguard reveals fund merge; Northern Trust creates reporting tool for hedge fund trades; and Lively removes HSA investment fees.

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Art by Jackson Epstein

Art by Jackson Epstein

Vanguard Reveals Fund Merge

Vanguard has announced plans to merge the $15.1 billion Vanguard Morgan Growth Fund into the $10.2 billion Vanguard U.S. Growth Fund. Following the merger, scheduled to be completed in early 2019, the fund will retain the U.S. Growth Fund name and continue to invest primarily in large-capitalization stocks of U.S. companies considered to have above-average earnings growth potential and reasonable stock prices in comparison with expected earnings.

Four current advisers of the U.S. Growth Fund will be retained (Wellington Management Company LLP, Jackson Square Partners LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, and Baillie Gifford Overseas Ltd.), and Vanguard Quantitative Equity Group will be added to the advisory team.

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Given the similarities in objectives, strategies, portfolios, and performance between the funds, Vanguard determined that the merger results in a stronger combination of investment advisers and in greater efficiencies in the administration of the combined U.S. Growth Fund. Following the merger, the expense ratios for the fund’s Investor and Admiral Shares are expected to be 0.38% and 0.28%, respectively.

Vanguard is also realigning the multi-manager approach teams of three funds. The $5.4 billion Vanguard Global Equity Fund will be advised by two of the current advisers, Baillie Gifford and Marathon Asset Management LLP. Acadian Asset Management LLC will no longer manage a portion of the fund. The team for the $4.2 billion Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Fund will include current adviser RS Investments Management Co. LLC, along with two new advisers to the fund: Frontier Capital Management LLC and Wellington. The $664 million Growth Portfolio of Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund will be managed by two of the current advisers: Jackson Square and Wellington.

Concurrent with these changes, William Blair Investment Management, LLC will no longer serve as an adviser for the U.S. Growth Fund, the Mid-Cap Growth Fund, and the Growth Portfolio of Vanguard Variable Insurance Fund.

The merger and the advisory changes are a result of Vanguard’s ongoing and comprehensive review of its global fund and exchange-trade fund (ETF) lineup. Matthew Brancato, who heads Vanguard’s product group, said: “We employ a rigorous evaluation process in overseeing our funds and advisers to ensure we provide sound, enduring offerings that meet the long-term needs of our clients. We have a long track record of product leadership and making changes that we believe are in the best interests of our clients, including merging funds, changing advisers, modifying mandates, and closing and liquidating funds.”

Northern Trust Creates Reporting Tool for Hedge Fund Trades

Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services (NTHFS) has launched Rec Dashboard, a reporting tool built to improve efficiency in account reconciliation. The dashboard is said to provide a comprehensive, real-time view of breaks and reconciliations in trade activity between NTHFS clients and other institutions.

As fund administrator, NTHFS reconciles client books and records with external custodians, futures clearing members, prime brokers and swap counterparties. Rec Dashboard users can create custom defined data views, monitor reconciliation completion and integrate break resolution into their own processes via the dashboard.

“As the importance of transparency continues to grow for hedge funds, we have enhanced our services to provide clients with more flexible views into data,” says Jeff Boyd, head of Northern Trust Hedge Fund Services, North America. “Timeliness and accuracy of information is critical. By consolidating all breaks into an interactive graphical user interface, Rec Dashboard provides real transparency into the process of verifying trade activity, positions and balances, helping clients to more effectively manage breaks and measure risk.”

Lively Removes HSA Investment Fees

Lively, Inc. announced the elimination of all fees to enable investments in its health savings accounts (HSAs) starting on January 1.

“Traditional HSA providers charge their customers hidden fees that can exceed thousands of dollars in lost savings,” says Alex Cyriac, CEO and co-founder of Lively. “Combined with rising yearly health care costs, this means consumers are losing money on both sides making it difficult to not only afford health care costs today, but also the $280,000 of expected health care expenses in retirement.”

Morningstar’s 2018 HSA Landscape report found that the HSA industry’s inconsistent disclosure and “frequent, significant changes to fees and investment lineups, create a burden for account holders looking to select a well-managed plan.” According to Lively, with the company’s zero-fee offering, these issues and concerns are removed for HSA holders.

“After personally experiencing the heavy impact of saving for health care costs, we created Lively to put more savings into consumers’ pockets and end the traditional nickel and diming by HSA providers,” says Shobin Uralil, COO and co-founder of Lively. “Becoming 100% fee-free for individuals and families takes our vision to the next level by removing costs to the consumer.”

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