Product & Service Launches

The Retirement Advantage launches its Select 401(k) PEP, John Hancock Investment Management launches alternatives offering; Cetera Partners with TIFIN AG.

TRA, Empower, Envestnet, FiduciaryxChange Introduce Select 401(k) PEP

The Retirement Advantage Inc. launched its TRA Select 401(k) Pooled Employer Plan, partnering with the Empower Annuity Insurance Co. of America, Envestnet Inc. and AmericanTCS’s FiduciaryxChange.

According to TRA, the key benefits of TRA Select 401(k) PEP are:

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  • Collective purchasing power: By joining a larger, collective plan, businesses can secure better pricing and access a wider range of services from specialized retirement providers;
  • Reduced administrative burden: As employers are not the plan sponsors, much of the administrative hassle and associated liability of managing a retirement plan are shifted away from them; and
  • Tailored flexibility: Employers still retain the flexibility to tailor their 401(k) plans to align with their company’s unique goals and requirements.

The firms will oversee different aspects of the PEP. FiduciaryxChange will act as the pooled plan provider, TRA as the third-party administrator, Empower as the recordkeeper and Envestnet offering various investment options, including risk-based and target-date funds.

 

John Hancock Investment Management Launches Alternatives Offering

John Hancock Investment Management, a company of Manulife Wealth and Asset Management, has launched the John Hancock CQS Asset Backed Securities Fund with its affiliated investment manager CQS Investment Management, a London-based multi-sector alternative credit specialist.

The fund’s investment objective is to generate a return comprised of both current income and capital appreciation. The CQS team looks to access diversified and steady sources of income in an actively managed portfolio of asset-backed securities such as residential and commercial mortgages, bank regulatory capital and collateralized loan obligations.

In pursuit of the fund’s objective, the portfolio managers seek to achieve risk-adjusted returns by investing in ABS subsectors that have exhibited low correlations to credit and equity markets.

“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our second fund in collaboration with Manulife | CQS Investment Management,” Kristie Feinberg, head of U.S. and Europe at Manulife Investment Management, and John Hancock Investment Management’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

 

Cetera Partners, TIFIN AG Offer Share-of-Wallet Opportunities

Cetera Financial Group has partnered with TIFIN AG, a provider of AI-powered solutions, to expand Cetera’s share-of-wallet tools and resources for Cetera advisers and financial institutions.

“Increasingly, clients are diversifying assets across multiple firms, so it’s especially vital now that financial advisers and institutions have tools and resources designed to maximize complex share-of-wallet strategies,” Michael Zuna, chief marketing and communications officer at Cetera, said in a statement.

Zuna said the solution is designed to address share-of-wallet challenges by identifying client behaviors that influence their asset allocation decisions.

TIFIN AG’s technology identifies growth opportunities, flagging at-risk clients and improving client conversion. According to Cetera, these insights help financial professionals retain their existing client base and expand their share of investable assets.

 

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