Unitized model portfolios are getting an increased amount of attention from advisors who want to “take target-date funds to the next level,” according to Kent Peterson, Vice President with Securian Financial.
They provide advisors with the flexibility to customize investment solutions based on a broad range of investment objectives, while also simplifying investment decisions for participants.
More importantly, they could help 401(k) advisors stand out from competitors in today’s commoditized retirement plan marketplace.
It’s something on which Securian is banking. The company announced that it’s adding unitized model portfolios to its suite of 401(k) investment solutions.
Offered in conjunction with Mid Atlantic Trust Company, Securian “seamlessly integrates custom investment models with Securian’s recordkeeping services, resulting in an all-inclusive platform featuring valued services for advisors’ clients.”
There is no asset minimum, making this typically large client service available to plans of any size.
“Unitized model portfolios are for professionals interested in taking target-date funds to the next level by building customized risk-based solutions for participant usage,” Peterson said in a statement.
But there not for everyone, or every advisor, he emphasized.
“They provide a value proposition and competitive differentiator to retirement plan specialist advisors who focus on investments as part of their practice,” Peterson concluded. “Wealth management firms that, in addition to working with individual investors, offer retirement plan consulting to small businesses find unitized model portfolios particularly appealing and highly efficient.”
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.
