Products July 2, 2008

The Hartford Improves Fiduciary Investment Selection Service

The Retirement Plans Group of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., is instituting a number of improvements to its co-fiduciary investment selection and monitoring service.
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A press release said The Hartford has simplified Fiduciary Assure, increased the investment options covered by the service, and eliminated the fee it charges clients for the service. Mesirow Financial, an independent, third-party registered investment adviser, will act as a co-fiduciary to defined contribution retirement plan sponsors for the investment options it recommends.

Fiduciary Assure is designed for retirement plan sponsors who want to protect themselves against legal challenges by providing investment options to the plan that are in compliance with ERISA Section 404(c).

“We feel strongly that plan sponsors need access to a fiduciary service like ours,” said Marty Swanson, vice president and chief marketing officer of The Hartford’s Retirement Plans Group, in the release. “The availability of true co-fiduciary protection, at no additional cost to the plan, should give plan sponsors added peace of mind.’

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More information is at www.thehartford.com.

Products July 2, 2008

Independence Investments Advises New SEI-Managed Collective Funds

SEI offers three new funds to defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans, sub-advised by Independence Investments LLC.
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Introduced in June, the Independence Fundamental Mid-Cap Collective Fund and the Independence Amplified Alpha Collective Fund are versions of existing separate account investment strategies that Independence has been managing for many years. The approach is a long-only concentrated “’best ideas’’ U.S. equity strategy blending proprietary techniques and public information on institutional holdings.

A news release said the funds offered to have initial investors in three Rhode Island retirement plans.

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The collective funds are part of the Convergent Capital Institutional Master Trust, maintained and managed by SEI Trust Company, which also serves as trustee. SEI Trust Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of SEI Investments Co. Independence is an affiliate of Convergent Capital Management LLC, a Chicago-based multi-boutique asset management holding company.


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