With the S&P 500 posting its best November ever, investors resumed trading into equities, according to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index.
There were nine days in November in which trades went from fixed income into equities—a sharp contrast from October, when there were no such days. By the end of the month, investors had 66.9% of their balances in equities, the highest value since January, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
In November, 401(k) investors traded a mere 0.16% of their starting balances. There were 11 fixed income days, comprising 55% of all trading days, and nine equity days, comprising 45%.
Only three trading days were above normal.
Asset classes with the most trading inflows in November were bond funds, taking in 61% of inflows, valued at $219 million, followed by stable value funds (19%; $66 million) and target-date funds (TDFs) (8%; $28 million).
Asset classes with the most trading outflows in November were company stock (47%; $167 million), large U.S. equity funds (20%; $72 million) and balanced funds (13%; $46 million).
Asset classes with the largest percentage of total balance at the end of November were TDFs (29%; $69.8 billion), large U.S. equity funds (25%; $61.1 billion) and stable value funds (10%; $29.9 billion).
Asset classes with the most contributions in November were TDFs (47%; $479 million), large U.S. equity funds (20%; $204 million) and international equity funds (7%; $72 million).
All indexes gained in November, with all equities reaching doubt-digit returns. U.S. small equities were up 18.4%, international equities were up 13.5% and U.S. large equities gained 11%. U.S. bonds managed a 1% gain.
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Voya Financial Advisors Inc. (VFA) has hired Adrian Dunuwila, an adviser based in Fayetteville, New York.
Through the move, Adrian Dunuwila joins his son Brendan Dunuwila at Dunuwila Wealth Management, a Voya-affiliated firm.
“I enjoy what I do and would never want to retire, but I am also fully aware that because some things in life are beyond one’s control, a responsible financial professional must have a meaningful transition plan in place,” Adrian Dunuwila says. “As a result, it made a great deal of sense to combine our businesses, streamline our operations and provide our clients with assurance of uninterrupted service for many years to come. I am privileged to be associated more closely with both Brendan and Voya.”
PCS Retirement has added two executives to its leadership team: Tammy Ouverson, vice president of business development, and Savit Tewari, executive vice president of client service. The former will head national accounts and internal sales, while the latter will lead the employer-sponsored plans client service team.
Ouverson brings 15 years of retirement industry experience and began her financial services career at Voya as vice president of business development. She most recently served as vice president of business development at OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc. She has also served on the Women in Pensions Network board of directors for six years, including leading the organization as president in 2015.
Tewari’s professional background includes serving as a consultant and team lead at Deloitte Consulting, as managed services director at Synygy, and as client delivery executive at Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters), before joining PCS Retirement.
Raymond James Financial Acquires NWPS
Raymond James Financial Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire NWPS Holdings Inc., which does business as NWPS and Northwest Plan Services.
NWPS and Northwest Plan Services provide retirement plan administration, consulting, actuarial and administration services, and are based in Seattle, Washington. The transaction is expected to close before December 31.
The addition of NWPS is meant to allow Raymond James to expand its retirement services offerings, including retirement plan administration services, to advisers and clients. The firm’s leadership says the timing of the acquisition is “opportune,” as the industry prepares for new solutions created by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, such as pooled employer plans (PEPs).
The approximately 160 employees with NWPS will be retained in the firm’s current locations. President and CEO Tim Wulfekuhle and his leadership team will continue to lead NWPS within the Raymond James organization. NWPS will operate as part of the Raymond James Private Client Group and enhance the existing retirement capabilities and solutions provided by the Institutional Fiduciary Solutions department.
NWPS will continue to operate under its current name. The firm currently has more than 400,000 participants with more than $35 billion in plan assets.
Vestwell Announces Retirement Services President
Vestwell has named Richard Tatum president of retirement services.
Tatum will report to the firm’s CEO, Aaron Schumm, and will be responsible for scaling platform operations, administration and client services.
Prior to joining Vestwell, Tatum was the president and CEO of Avintus, a third-party administrator (TPA) firm he joined in 1998. Under his leadership at Avintus, the TPA service division expanded its service suite to include payroll, human resource (HR) and 3(16) fiduciary outsourcing solutions. In 2018, the firm was acquired by Ascensus under its TPA Solutions division. Following the acquisition, Tatum became a divisional vice president, where he was responsible for sales in FuturePlan by Ascensus’ Southern Division.
As president of retirement services, Tatum will be involved in the firm’s ecosystem of partners, including global financial services companies across financial advisers, asset managers, and insurance providers, as well as payroll providers, company plan sponsors and participating employees.
Tatum holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and business management from Lipscomb University.
TRA Acquires Employee Benefit Consultants
The Retirement Advantage Inc. (TRA) has acquired Employee Benefit Consultants of Florida Inc. (EBC), based in Stuart, Florida.
“Our fourth acquisition in 2020, EBC presents a terrific opportunity for both growth and innovation,” says Matt Schoneman, president of TRA.
“Joining TRA provides both our employees and clients with additional opportunities,” says Robert Zike, president of EBC. “We are ready to combine our industry expertise and regional presence with TRA to position our employees and clients for long-term success.”
