Wilmington Trust’s Spun-Off CIT Division Is Now Great Gray Trust

The Collective Investment Trust division of Wilmington Trust NA purchased by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC has a new name and appointed leadership structure as of Saturday, according to a letter sent to customers.

The Great Gray Trust Co. will continue to offer the same CIT product and service offerings to advisers and plan sponsors after Wilmington Trust parent M&T Bank Corp. announced the sale of the division in December 2022. 

“I am excited to announce that in the coming days the team you know now as Wilmington Trust will officially provide CIT solutions to you as Great Gray Trust Company,” Rob Barnett, the company’s CEO and president, wrote in the letter. “As this newly formed company, we are committed to continuing to expand and evolve the retirement space and deliver innovative solutions to meet your evolving needs.”

CITs have been growing in popularity in recent years due to offering a lower-fee investment option than most mutual funds for defined contribution retirement plans. The pooled investment vehicles, which are held by a bank or trust, have overtaken mutual funds as the most prevalent investment vehicle in defined contribution savings plans, according to consultancy Callan’s most recent DC Index.

Barnett wrote to customers that the Great Gray team will remain in place in the transition. Part of that team’s work has included trying to educate advisers, plan sponsors and even policymakers about the benefits of CITs. Currently, 403(b) retirement plan providers are not able to access CITs, though there is a proposed bill in Congress seeking to make that possible.

In 2019, the division announced a partnership with the Nasdaq Fund Network to show searchable tickers for CITs—giving them six letters instead of the five usually used for mutual funds. In September of 2022 the firm launched a digital CIT onboarding platform called boardingpass designed to ease the process of including CITs in DC plans.

“We are very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in the CIT market thus far and believe that as Great Gray, we will continue to move the business forward through industry-leading thought leadership, CIT education, and client-centric retirement solutions,” Barnett wrote in the letter.