Yahoo Finance: MPowered Capital Closes First Fund to Invest in Diverse Talent in Private Alternative Markets
Congratulations to MPowered Capital for closing its first fund to invest in diverse talent in private alternative markets. At NEPC, we’re passionate about promoting diversity in the industry and are proud to join forces with MPowered in this mission. As Kristine Pelletier notes, we’ve seen firsthand how institutionalized 360-degree diversity programs lead to better results for clients, which is why we’re impressed with MPowered’s holistic approach and tailored structures for working with diverse talent. We’re thrilled to continue to support novel solutions in the industry and shifting the talent pool towards inclusivity. View the announcement on Yahoo Finance’s site here.
MINNEAPOLIS, April 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MPowered Capital (“MPowered”) today announced the final close of MPowered Capital Access Fund I (“the Fund”) with $110 million in committed capital. The Fund, which received support from institutional investors, including foundations, family offices, and the consultant community, seeks to generate superior risk-adjusted returns through investments in diverse talent in private alternatives.
As of the final close, the Fund has invested in or alongside 11 diverse investment managers, including L2 Point Management, Sidereal Capital, Kinzie Capital, and Collide Capital.
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Kristine Pelletier, Partner at NEPC, said: “NEPC is proud to invest in MPowered Capital Access Fund I and join MPowered in our collective efforts to increase access to diverse talent in all its forms. At NEPC, we’ve seen firsthand how institutionalized 360-degree diversity programs can lead to better results for our clients, which is why we were so impressed by MPowered’s holistic approach to working with diverse talent and the innovative, tailored structures they employ. We are excited to see such novel solutions coming to the marketplace focused on shifting the profile of the industry’s talent pool and increasing access points to the investment management industry.”
Read the full article on Yahoo Finance’s website here.
CNBC: Treasury Yields Waver as Volatile Month for the Bond Market Continues
NEPC’s Phillip Nelson was quoted in a recent CNBC article to discuss the performance of the bond market today. View the announcement on CNBC’s site here.
U.S. Treasury yields wavered early Wednesday as investors remained cautiously optimistic that recent banking turmoil has settled.
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“Markets have been processing a flurry of news from the global banking sector in recent weeks, along with what the latest round of interest rate hikes from the U.S., U.K. and EU mean for those economies.
“The shift to higher interest rates that we’ve seen over the last week reflects the concerns around the banking system subsiding – and also an increased awareness that the Fed is unlikely to be cutting rates in 2023,” said Phillip Nelson, director of asset allocation research at NEPC.”
Read the full article on CNBC’s website here.
FundFire: Matthews Asia Grapples with Steep Asset Decline, Turnover
NEPC’s Phillip Nelson was quoted in a recent FundFire article emphasizing that investment consultants and asset managers are regaining confidence in emerging markets and China. View the article on FundFire’s site here.
Matthews Asia is wrestling with several years of persistent asset declines and staff turnover.
The emerging-market specialist, which is known for Asia-focused strategies, had $25.2 billion in firmwide discretionary assets at the end of 2021, according to its most recent Form ADV filing. The firm listed total assets as $13.2 billion at the end of February, a roughly 50% decline.
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“Investment consultants and asset managers are regaining confidence in emerging markets and China, in particular, which could benefit Matthews. NEPC made the reopening of China its 2023 theme.
“When we look at the last few months of 2022, we saw this big bounce in recovery,” said Phil Nelson, NEPC’s head of asset allocation, describing the rebound as “almost V-shaped”.
To seize that momentum, Matthews is emphasizing its 31-year history as an investor in the region and its recent diversification into emerging markets outside Asia.”
Read the full article on FundFire’s website here.
ASPPA: Retirement Income Selection Remains a 'Pain Point' for Many DC Plans
NEPC’s Bill Ryan and Alison Lonstein were quoted in a recent article from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries to discuss our 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results. View the announcement on ASPAA’s site here.
While the dedicated retirement income solution market has proliferated over the past several years, many plan sponsors have struggled to evaluate their options strategically, according to NEPC’s 17th annual Defined Contribution (DC) Plan Trends and Fee Survey.
This year’s data reveals that retirement income solutions are more prevalent than what is typically discussed, with 84% of respondents currently offering their participants one — most often in the form of a target date fund (TDF) that includes the flexibility to take installment withdrawals as a source of income in retirement.
. . .
“As participants continue to demand retirement income solutions, plan sponsors are seeking trusted stewards to help them simplify what’s become a pretty complex evaluation and selection process,” notes Alison Lonstein, Principal and Senior Consultant on NEPC’s Defined Contribution team.
“This trend mirrors what we’ve seen in other segments of the retirement space — especially the increasingly complex ESG and legal environments. We’ve seen a significant uptick in clients asking for fiduciary training on the ESG landscape and requests for more insight and intel around legal news,” she adds.
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“Off-the-shelf and custom TDFs can have wide-ranging risk allocations, expenses, and best practices for management and reporting — something recent regulation and court cases are looking to address,” observes Bill Ryan, Partner and Head of Defined Contribution Solutions. “As we’re likely to see continued focus on America’s retirement crisis in the years ahead, plan sponsors should be having hard conversations today about their fiduciary decision making and monitoring process for TDFs on their menu,” he adds.
Read the full article on ASPPA’s website here.
Financial Advisor IQ: Retirement Plan Sponsors Find Pain Point in Income Solutions: Report
NEPC’s Bill Ryan was recently quoted in a Financial Advisor IQ article to discuss how defined contribution plans are seeking help navigating target date funds as a result of recent regulatory and legal actions, according to our 2022 DC Plan Trends & Fees Survey. View the article on Financial Advisor IQ’s site here.
Retirement income products remain popular among defined contribution plans, but sponsors are increasingly seeking help navigating them, including by tapping the services of outsourced chief investment officers, according to a recent report.
Target date funds, which offer installment withdrawals as a source of income in retirement, continue dominating among retirement income solutions, with 96% of DC plans reporting using them, unchanged from 2020, investment consultant and OCIO provider NEPC said it found in a survey of 119 clients and 207 DC plans, representing 2.2 million plan participants and $283 billion in combined assets.
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“Off-the-shelf and custom TDFs can have wide-ranging risk allocations, expenses, and best practices for management and reporting — something recent regulation and court cases are looking to address,” Bill Ryan, partner and head of DC Solutions at NEPC, said in a statement. “As we’re likely to see continued focus on America’s retirement crisis in the years ahead, plan sponsors should be having hard conversations today about their fiduciary decision making and monitoring process for TDFs on their menu.”
Read the full article on Financial Advisor IQ’s website here.
Business Insider: How Shadow Bankers are Already Emerging as Winners in the SVB Collapse
NEPC’s Phillip Nelson was quoted in a recent Business Insider article to discuss the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. View the announcement on Business Insider’s site here.
The momentum already behind the secretive private credit space has gained steam as the SVB collapse pushes companies to consider alternate sources of debt and, on the other side, private credit managers seek out new targets.
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“Phill Nelson, the head of asset allocation for the influential investment consultant NEPC, said a shift in regulatory frameworks for both banks and non-bank lenders such as asset managers was unlikely ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, even as greater scrutiny of the financial system would likely come following the SVB collapse.”
Read the full article on Business Insider’s website here.
WealthManagement.com: TDFs Grow While ESG Lags in DC Plans
NEPC’s Bill Ryan and Alison Lonstein were quoted in a recent WealthManagement.com article to discuss our 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results which include the growth of TDFs and an increase in usage of OCIO. View the announcement on WealthManagement.com’s site here.
While the retail and institutional market both live in the same worlds, sometimes it seems like they are from different universes. The recently released 17th annual NEPC 2022 DC Plan Trends & Fees Survey, while not shocking, provides insights into what is really happening with larger DC plans, which may portend changes in the retail DC market.
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“There were some myth busters in the NEPC Survey and some confirmations including:
- TDFs continue to gain traction now at 46% of plan assets garnering 70% of new contributions. Bill Ryan, NEPC’s head of DC solutions, predicts that most assets will be in target dates in three to five years.
- Participants hold an average of 2.5 funds because of the proliferation of TDFs with 66% active. Lineups are being streamlined according to Allison Lonstein, principal at NEPC, who is surprised that indexing has not grown more in some sectors like large cap value.
- Though there was a 94% increase in usage of OCIO, just 10% of clients leverage it overseeing 9% of assets. Lonstein anticipates growth with 25% of prospects interested. Ironically, Ryan sees this is a trend moving up market.”
Read the full article on WealthManagement.com’s website here.
InvestmentNews: Income Solutions Remain Sticking Point for Retirement Plan Sponsors, Survey Shows
NEPC’s Alison Lonstein was quoted in a recent InvestmentNews article to discuss our 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results which show a lack of industry consensus on how to create meaningful retirement income solutions in companies’ defined-contribution plans. View the announcement on InvestmentNews’ site here.
The booming retirement income market seems to be befuddling defined-contribution plan sponsors.
According the recently released NEPC Defined Contribution Plan Trends and Fee Survey, there’s almost no industry consensus on how to create meaningful retirement income solutions in employer plans even as the market for those solutions has skyrocketed. In fact, the report revealed that choosing a retirement income solution has proven to be a major pain point for many defined-contribution clients.
The investment consultant and OCIO provider’s data showed that 84% of plan sponsors who responded to the survey currently offer their participants a retirement income solution, generally in the form of a target-date fund that includes the flexibility to take installment withdrawals in retirement. Currently, an overwhelming 96% of respondents offer TDFs, which is unchanged from 2020, with 46% of total plan assets invested in TDFs, up from 42% in 2020, according to the study.
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“As participants continue to demand retirement income solutions, plan sponsors are seeking trusted stewards to help them simplify what’s become a pretty complex evaluation and selection process,” Alison Lonstein, principal and senior consultant on NEPC’s defined contribution team, said in a statement.
Lonstein added that this trend mirrors the action in other segments of the retirement space, especially in the ESG and legal environments, where she’s seen a “significant uptick in clients asking for fiduciary training on the ESG landscape and requests for more insight and intel around legal news.”
Read the full article on InvestmentNews’ website here.
NAPA: Retirement Income Selection Remains a 'Pain Point' for Many DC Plans
NEPC’s Bill Ryan and Alison Lonstein were quoted in a recent article from the National Association of Plan Advisors to discuss our 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results. View the announcement on NAPA’s site here.
While the dedicated retirement income solution market has proliferated over the past several years, many plan sponsors have struggled to evaluate their options strategically, according to NEPC’s 17th annual Defined Contribution (DC) Plan Trends and Fee Survey.
This year’s data reveals that retirement income solutions are more prevalent than what is typically discussed, with 84% of respondents currently offering their participants one — most often in the form of a target date fund (TDF) that includes the flexibility to take installment withdrawals as a source of income in retirement.
. . .
“As participants continue to demand retirement income solutions, plan sponsors are seeking trusted stewards to help them simplify what’s become a pretty complex evaluation and selection process,” notes Alison Lonstein, Principal and Senior Consultant on NEPC’s Defined Contribution team.
“This trend mirrors what we’ve seen in other segments of the retirement space — especially the increasingly complex ESG and legal environments. We’ve seen a significant uptick in clients asking for fiduciary training on the ESG landscape and requests for more insight and intel around legal news,” she adds.
. . .
“Off-the-shelf and custom TDFs can have wide-ranging risk allocations, expenses, and best practices for management and reporting — something recent regulation and court cases are looking to address,” observes Bill Ryan, Partner and Head of Defined Contribution Solutions. “As we’re likely to see continued focus on America’s retirement crisis in the years ahead, plan sponsors should be having hard conversations today about their fiduciary decision making and monitoring process for TDFs on their menu,” he adds.
Read the full article on NAPA’s website here.
PlanSponsor: Employees Should Offer Variety of Retirement Income Options, Survey Shows
NEPC’s Bill Ryan and Alison Lonstein were quoted in a recent PlanSponsor article to discuss the 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results and how the data argues that plan sponsors should offer retirement income solutions such as annuities to provide lasting lifetime income options to workers. View the announcement on PlanSponsor’s site here.
Employers offering robust retirement income options for workers is but one piece of the puzzle to help workers manage the retirement assets they have accumulated over an entire working career.
Plan sponsors need to think longer about the different lifetime income withdrawal options for defined contribution plan sponsors, new NEPC data shows.
While 84% of plan sponsor respondents currently offer retirement income solutions—most often in a target-date fund—several challenges remain for employers, including the absence of a consensus on how to develop guaranteed retirement income solutions, the NEPC 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fees Survey found.
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“Nine out of 10 of our [plan sponsor] clients [offer] a target-date fund with systematic distributions, so 90% of our clients have a retirement income solution, [but] there’s a discrepancy between when people think about retirement income and lifetime income,” he says. “We think five years from now, you may see target-date funds plus an annuity window as probably the more common way to address this problem.”
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Because there are fewer private-sector pensions available for workers to retire on, many lack a secure stream of income in retirement and need to develop—through a guaranteed insurance product, such as an annuity, or via non-guaranteed income like 401(k) IRAs and stocks—a secure stream of income for retirement. Plan sponsors need to heed this, to support their employees’ retirement readiness, says Alison Lonstein, a principal and senior consultant at NEPC.
For plan sponsors to explore offering a lifetime income option with a guaranteed feature, a critical decision must be answered: the purpose of the workplace retirement plan.
“It could come down to one simple question: Do you believe your DC plan should be a savings or retirement plan?” she says. “There’s a lot of different paths [plan sponsors] could consider in thinking about how to build out the spending phase of their lineup.”
Read the full article on Plan Sponsor’s website here.