The Standard Adds Personalized Managed Account Solution

The Standard has added a professionally managed account solution, one which can be rebranded as adviser-managed accounts, to its workplace retirement plan offerings, the firm announced Thursday.

The Standard’s new offering, TargetPro Portfolios, is provided and monitored by Stadion Money Management LLC, a wholly owned division of Smart Communications Inc. It is available to plan sponsors as a turnkey solution on The Standard’s recordkeeping platform or through an adviser as an adviser-managed account.

The managed account is intended to be offered to plan participants to further personalize their investment allocations, advice and planning in pursuit of “their retirement goals,” the firm announced. The product is currently available to new retirement plan clients and will “later be available to existing clients,” according to Steven Chappell, The Standard’s vice president of distribution for retirement plan sales.

“One-size-fits-all is not an effective strategy to help improve retirement outcomes for participants,” Chappell says. “TargetPro Portfolios delivers a personalized investment strategy that accounts for individual circumstances and risk tolerances, as well as retirement goals and retirement income needs, without requiring additional engagement.”

Managed accounts are being offered to plan sponsors via recordkeepers’ proprietary offerings, as well as through providers such as Edelman Financial Engines, Morningstar Inc. and the Charles Schwab Corp. The nine largest defined contribution managed account sponsors reported assets of $434.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023, an increase from $316.7 billion in Q2 2022, according to the latest data from Cerulli Associates.

TargetPro’s managed account fees for the service are priced to be “extremely competitive in the marketplace to help employers and advisers feel comfortable using a personalized solution as a QDIA,” Chappell says.

The solution expands The Standard’s offering, adding to its Mainspring Managed personalized account management service, available since 2007, and offered through StanCorp Investment Advisers, a division of The Standard.

“Mainspring Managed is an extremely successful program for The Standard, but our Stadion relationship works with any investment line-up from an advisor and provides the building blocks for our Advisor Managed Account program,” Chappell says. “Stadion was selected for meeting our vision of being a flexible advice engine that can help us deliver personalization at a competitive cost without requiring additional participant engagement.”

Multiple national advisory firms have partnered with The Standard and Stadion to implement their own rebranded AMA solutions, the firm noted. With AMAs, advisers can choose the degree of fiduciary involvement, depending on their client’s wishes and costs.