Products December 20, 2005

Wilmington Trust Expands Fund Offering for Retirement Clients

December 20, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Wilmington Trust announced that it is expanding access to seven mutual funds for retirement plan clients.

Reported by

Fred Schneyer

A Wilmington Trust news release said that the offerings – previously included in the company’s lineup for high network investors – include three lifestyle funds, one that invests exclusively in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and three domestic equity funds.

The announcement said that the company’s new lifestyle funds – Wilmington Conservative Asset Allocation Fund, Wilmington Moderate Asset Allocation Fund, and Wilmington Aggressive Asset Allocation Fund – are funds of funds. They combine Wilmington Trust’s strategic asset allocation models with tactical portfolio rebalancing that is based on a forward-looking view of the capital markets, Wilmington Trust said. Wilmington Trust’s new Wilmington ETF Allocation Fund is a fund of ETFs and is patterned after a Wilmington Trust private offering.

“As they near the retirement phase of their lives, Baby Boomers are looking for ways to simplify their investment decisions,” said Neil Wolfson, chief investment officer for Wilmington Trust’s Wealth Advisory business, in the announcement. “Our lifestyle funds deliver on that demand. We make the asset allocation decisions and provide ongoing rebalancing of the portfolios. All that investors have to do is determine the level of risk that is appropriate for them.”

The remaining new funds are Wilmington Mid-Cap Core Fund, Wilmington Small-Cap Growth Fund, and Wilmington Small-Cap Value Fund. They are managed by the company’s equity management group using proprietary research models to construct portfolios.

Each of the seven new Wilmington Funds maintains an investor class of shares and an institutional class of shares. The funds will be available through defined contribution plans, mutual fund supermarkets, mutual fund wrap programs, and through advisors licensed with Wilmington Brokerage Services Company, the company’s broker-dealer affiliate. Wilmington Trust has also added an investor class of shares to 12 of its existing mutual funds.

More information about the company is here .