UBS Creates Program to Help Advisers Serve Small Plans

UBS Global Wealth Management has launched Retirement Plan Manager, a new advisory program to help advisers efficiently serve retirement plans with less than $5 million in assets.

The program has been launched under a new offering called UBS Retirement Plan Guided Solutions, a separate and distinct offering from the firm’s existing Retirement Plan Consulting Services program.

UBS acts as a fiduciary 3(38) in the program, which includes fund research, investment decisions, ongoing investment reviews, fund replacement decisions and quarterly investment reporting. Engaging with advisers for fiduciary investment advice is becoming the preferred way of doing business for plan sponsors, and demand is quickly spreading to the small plan market, UBS contends. 

“Whether a plan sponsor is managing a 401(k) plan for a large Fortune 500 corporation or a small business, the importance of maintaining a well-run plan that helps employees save for retirement is the same for both, and their fiduciary responsibility is also the same,” says Jim Hausman, managing director and head of corporate solutions and retirement services at UBS. “We understand that plan sponsors of smaller plans are in need of support because they often don’t have the experience or staffing to make important investment decisions, Retirement Plan Manager removes this burden for plan sponsors by providing them with a new offering that provides discretionary investment management.”