Guardian Expands Investment Options

September 13, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. has released several fund enhancements to its Guardian Choice and Guardian Advantage fund lineups.

According to Guardian, the enhancements are designed to increase the investment options, flexibility and breadth of asset classes for plan sponsors using these options to fund their qualified retirement plans.

Guardian has added 24 new funds to Guardian Choice, bringing the total number of funds available to 127. The Guardian Advantage gained five new funds and now totals 99. With the addition of these new funds, Guardian now offers a larger and more diverse range of investment options and asset classes for the micro- to small-plan market, including multiple Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIAs). Guardian has no proprietary fund requirements, which enables plan sponsors to select from a flexible fund lineup best suited to meet the needs of their plan participants.

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“We continue to offer product solutions for the ‘do-it-for-me’ plan participant who may not have the requisite experience to invest on their own,” said Jason Frain, vice president, 401(k) Product Management and Development, Guardian Retirement Solutions. “In addition to our multiple options for the hands-off investor, we offer a range of robust educational resources to help plan participants better prepare for retirement, as well as multiple tools and platforms to help financial professionals engage more meaningfully with clients.”

Guardian’s new fund offerings give plan participants who prefer the ‘do-it-for-me’ approach to retirement investing more options to help create retirement plans that are tailored to their specific investment goals, age and risk tolerance. In addition, Guardian’s website provides plan participants with background information on various types of retirement funds, a variety of educational features to help people better understand their own investing styles, and advice about how to maximize the retirement planning process.

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