Managed accounts are increasingly popular, and Fidelity is looking to further capitalize on their growing use among plan sponsors, plan participants, and the advisors with whom they work.
The reason, according to the Boston-based firm? An increased focus on fiduciary responsibility, financial wellness and retirement readiness, as well the simple fact that more advisors are moving into the retirement plan space.
Based on this demand, Fidelity Institutional (FI) announced that it is expanding access to Fidelity Portfolio Advisory Service at Work (PAS-W)–the company’s managed account offering which provides investment management of workplace retirement accounts–to retirement advisors and recordkeepers.
Fidelity research has found that “there’s been a significant increase in the number of advisory firms moving from accommodating retirement plan requests to growing their retirement plan businesses.”
As this growth accelerates, so, too, does the need for solutions to help advisors manage that growth in an efficient and scalable way, while providing personalized solutions and better outcomes for plan participants.
“Many firms are focused on scale and looking to grow their retirement business efficiently while ensuring plan participants have the customization they need,” Michael Durbin, head of Fidelity Institutional Product, said in a statement. “We see PAS-W as a way to drive efficiency and outcomes at every level: for participants, plan sponsors, retirement advisors and recordkeepers.”
The first independent recordkeepers to use the PAS-W offering–Sentinel Benefits, Alliance Benefit Group of Michigan, and Alliance Benefit Group-Rocky Mountain–have a solution that integrates directly into the FIS Relius Administration platform.
With the increasing demand for fiduciary services in the marketplace, Fidelity’s PAS-W offering provides advisors with another solution to support their retirement plan business. In addition, through third-party relationships, Fidelity provides access to solutions designed to help advisors effectively manage their retirement plan business and deliver fiduciary services to both plan sponsors and participants.
Fidelity’s managed accounts platform recently surpassed one million enrolled customers with more than 300,000 of them in workplace savings plans, according to the company. Fidelity has delivered asset allocation strategies to plan participants for more than 25 years, and 97 percent of employees who join PAS-W stay invested and maintain their accounts.
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.
