T. Rowe Price is the latest major player in the 401(k) and retirement space to go digital with the advice it provides.
The company announced ActivePlus Portfolios, a “digital discretionary investment management solution featuring actively managed mutual funds, asset allocation expertise, and advice.”
“Investors will receive T. Rowe Price asset allocation expertise, rebalancing, and advice with no additional advisory fee,” according to the Baltimore-based money manager. However, “Investors pay the expense ratio of the underlying funds in the portfolio.”
“Many investors don’t have the time or willingness to monitor the markets, determine their appropriate asset allocation, and rebalance their accounts on a regular basis in order to achieve their investment goals,” Scott David, head of T. Rowe Price Individual & Retirement Plan Services, said in a statement. “The T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolios program assumes these responsibilities and provides clients with access to our time-tested, actively managed mutual funds and asset allocation expertise.”
It’s available at the initial launch for IRAs investors. Those with a minimum of $50,000 will receive a model portfolio recommendation after answering a short questionnaire to assess risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment goals. Each model portfolio will consist of eight to 13 of T. Rowe Price’s actively managed mutual funds.
Key features include:
No additional advisory fees: While investors will pay the expense ratios of the underlying funds within their model portfolio, they will not be charged an additional advisory fee or pay a commission for this service.
Rowe Price’s asset allocation expertise:Model portfolios are designed and managed by seasoned T. Rowe Price investment professionals
Digital convenience with client specialist access: While it’s completely digital and accessible via mobile, tablet, and desktop, investors will also have phone access to licensed client managers dedicated to assisting T. Rowe Price ActivePlus Portfolios clients.
Exclusively T. Rowe Price mutual funds: T. Rowe Price strongly believes a disciplined, collaborative, and active approach to investing can help investors reach their long-term goals. T. Rowe Price portfolio managers utilize proprietary research to guide active investment selection and diversification to help mitigate risk.
Transparency: Investors will have full transparency into their mutual fund holdings and trading activity within their accounts. They will also have access to performance information and have the ability to track their account value, with details on cash flow and market movement.
T. Rowe Price has selected BNY Mellon’s Pershing as the broker-dealer for these accounts. The company has $810.8 billion in assets under management.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
