Products October 31, 2018

UBS Creates Program to Help Advisers Serve Small Plans

Retirement Plan Manager is aimed at helping advisers serve plans with less than $5 million in assets.

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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.”

The Markets October 31, 2018

Third Quarter of 2018 Sees Steady Investment Performances

Public Funds and Foundations & Endowments each had median returns of 2.4% in the third quarter, with Corporate ERISA plans following at 1.9%, according to Northern Trust. 

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The third quarter of 2018 brought positive investment performance, as the median return of 2.4% for institutional asset owners followed year-to-date gains at 3.3%, according to Northern Trust Universe Data.

Public Funds and Foundations & Endowments each had median returns of 2.4% in the third quarter, with Corporate ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) plans trailing behind at 1.9%, due to their allocation towards longer duration fixed income—an investment sensitive to interest rate hikes, according to Bill Frieske, senior investment performance consultant of Investment Risk and Analytical Services at Northern Trust. Despite this lag, Northern Trust overall marks the performances as optimistic.

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“Third-quarter performance rolled along nicely, with solid returns from domestic equities and alternative asset classes driving results for institutional plan sponsors,” says Mark Bovier, regional head, Investment Risk and Analytical Services. “U.S. equities were up mid-single digits in the quarter while hedge fund investment programs in the Northern Trust Universe returned approximately 8.5% at the median. Fixed income programs, a core holding for most institutional investors, gained a more modest 0.4 %, owing mostly to a rising rate environment.”

ERISA plans saw a one-year gain of 5.2%, a three-year gain of 9.0% and a five-year gain of 7.4%. Corresponding performance for Public funds was 7.4%, 10.0% and 7.9%, respectively, while for Foundations & Endowments they were 7.6%, 9.0% and 7.4%, respectively.

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