CITs: A Demonstration of Commitment and Experience

Financial professionals are seeking more efficient ways to provide retirement plan participants with high quality and low-cost investment options. One possible way to do this is by using Collective Investment Trusts, or CITs. Growing in popularity, CITs are no longer a retirement planning tool available only to mega plans. They have been around since the 1970s and OneAmerica® has offered CITs in our retirement plan platform since the early 1990’s. Terry Burns, assistant vice president, products and investments at OneAmerica, Retirement Services, discusses how OneAmerica is working to support retirement plan advisors, plan sponsors and participants in this endeavor.

PLANADVISER: Describe the OneAmerica experience with CITs?

Terry Burns: OneAmerica has long been a thought leader
and advocate for the consideration of CITs in 401(k) plans of all sizes. The uptick in recent usage of CITs shows us that fiduciaries are becoming more open to them as an investment option due to their low overhead costs and composition that often mirrors that of a traditional mutual fund. We’ve built a simple
online portal for our group annuity plan clients to close the information gap by making it easier for plan fiduciaries to access information on CITs.

PA: What’s included on the CIT portal?

Burns: Our portal serves as a centralized hub for quick and easy access to important fund documents. This new site will give plan sponsors access to fund companies’ offering documents, including participation agreements, offering statements, and declarations of trust. There are 225 CITs on the portal and that number will continue to grow. The information on the portal is available to anyone who is interested in learning more.

PA: Why does the retirement industry take a liking to these products?

Burns: CITs are attractive because the overhead associated with compliance and regulation isn’t as time-consuming as traditional mutual funds, therefore making them a cost-effective option for plans. CITs have evolved over time and many of them are clones of traditional mutual funds—offering the same investment management team, investment composition and similar returns. Typically, you get the same investment management at a lower cost compared to a mutual fund.

PA: Why did OneAmerica create a portal for CITs?

Burns: By eliminating the burden of conducting independent research, the CIT portal is just another example of how our growing company is evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our clients. The launch of the portal is also our way of reinforcing to the industry our longstanding support of CITs as a viable option for retirement plans of all sizes, not just larger ones. If only one person finds the portal useful, it is worth the effort and because it is digital, we’re being environmentally sensitive. While we will mail CIT paperwork when requested, making the information electronically accessible lowers our overall costs and as we continue to look for ways to be easy to do business with, every penny counts.

PA: Who put this together?

Burns: It was a truly collaborative effort. OneAmerica provides award-winning administrative and participant services in support of nearly 12,000 plans with over $63 billion in retirement assets under administration. A nationwide network of regional sales directors work with a diverse mix of advisors and advisor firms covering
a range of organizations with plan-participant assets. Broadridge is a global provider of investor communications, technology-driven solutions, as well as data and analytics to the financial services industry.

PA: How do I find out more?

Burns: Visit OneAmerica.com/CIThub or for questions, please contact our Retirement Services Internal Sales Desk at 1-866-313-7355, or contact your OneAmerica representative.

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OneAmerica® is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica.

Broadridge is not an affiliate of any OneAmerica company.

Products issued and underwritten by American United Life Insurance Company® (AUL), a OneAmerica company.
Administrative and recordkeeping services provided by McCready and Keene, Inc. or OneAmerica Retirement Services LLC, companies of OneAmerica which are not broker/dealers or investment advisors. Provided content is for overview and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be relied upon as individualized tax, legal, fiduciary, or investment advice. Investing involves risk including potential loss of principal.