Deals & People June 2, 2016

Advisor Group Adopts Envestnet Retirement Solutions Platform

The Envestnet platform is now part of Advisor Group’s comprehensive offering for financial professionals serving the retirement plans marketplace. 
Reported by

Advisor Group announced the adoption of Envestnet Retirement Solutions’ (ERS) practice management platform for its advisory force.

The platform becomes part of the firm’s comprehensive offering for financial advisers in the retirement plans marketplace, which includes client service tools, comprehensive sales support, a dynamic education curriculum and a dedicated team of home office support professionals.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

According to the firms, the ERS platform provides advisers with integrated, open architecture and flexible fiduciary solutions, combining the investment tools, processes and analytics that are “essential drivers of a sustainable retirement plan business in a single web-based application.” The platform features a client relationship management (CRM) solution, adviser management dashboard, investment analytics, fund research and monitoring reports, as well as a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor search tool.

According to Advisor Group, the ERS platform is the latest offering to retirement plan advisors through Advisor Group’s Retirement Plan Consulting Services (RPCS) division. The firm offers other comprehensive tools, including Retirement Plans Central (RPC), Advisor Group’s easy-to-use resource for financial pros to build and maintain their book of group retirement business. Retirement plan advisers can also leverage the firm’s Retirement Plan Advisory Council, which works closely with Advisor Group leadership to “find collaborative solutions on key business issues and developments on products, service, support, technology, field communication and training.”

For more information, visit www.advisorgroup.com.  

Products June 2, 2016

Index Allows DB Plan Sponsors to Measure Illiquidity Risk Premiums

The index enables comparison of illiquidity risk premiums across assets on a consistent basis.
Reported by

Willis Towers Watson introduced its Illiquidity Risk Premium (IRP) Index.

In a research paper, “Understanding and Measuring the Illiquidity Risk Premium,” the company observes that investors generally do not have a good understanding of what they’re being paid for having their capital locked up. By referencing the principle “what gets measured gets managed,” the company explores what investors should demand for accepting illiquidity risk and how this can be measured by using a new IRP index.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

According to Willis Towers Watson, the index enables comparison of IRPs across assets on a consistent basis, so as to make relative-value statements about the attractiveness of taking illiquidity risk across those assets.

Thierry Adant, a consultant for credit research at Willis Towers Watson in New York City, tells PLANADVISER, “We think liquidity listing is underutilized. Having a good understanding of whether [defined benefit plan sponsors] are getting paid enough is better than blind allocations. The index helps plan sponsors determine where and when it is good to take liquidity risk.”

According to Adant, the IRP Index is a proprietary offering Willis Towers Watson has been using for a number of years, but is now introducing it to investors because of a change in the market liquidity regime, not just for bonds but other assets. “If [liquidity] is managed correctly, it can make a big difference over time,” he says.

The company warns that its IRP index currently indicates that IRPs are at the low end of fair value and are likely to remain so for some time unless there is a significant downside event, which would push all risk premium—including IRPs—higher.

«