Investing April 27, 2015

Strategic Insight Launches Liquid Alternatives Reporting

Strategic Insight’s newest report series offers alternative investment insights for portfolio decisionmakers.
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Investment fund research and analytics firm Strategic Insight (SI), an Asset International Company, is adding a new liquid alternatives research practice area, reflecting the growing importance of the asset class for institutional investors.

Within this practice area, SI will publish a quarterly overview of the liquid alternative investment marketplace, along with periodic topical studies (known as “Alternative Insights”) and webcasts devoted to this growing area of the investment fund market.

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SI says the Liquid Alternatives Quarterly report series will provide an overview of key ongoing trends within the liquid alternative marketplace, for both mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The research effort will capture investor demand trends, top-selling managers and individual funds, and important product innovation themes.

The current inaugural issue focuses on full-year 2014 results for the asset class. Moving forward, this report series will be published on a quarterly basis and analyze activity within the preceding quarter, SI explains.

Information on obtaining Strategic Insight reporting is available here. 

Data and Research April 27, 2015

Many Sponsors Unaware of Fiduciary Responsibilities

These sponsors tend to be less involved with their retirement plans.
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In the past three years, there has been a decline in retirement plan sponsors’ awareness of their fiduciary responsibilities, according to research from AllianceBernstein. More than one-third (37%) of sponsors aren’t aware that they are fiduciaries, up from 30% in 2011.

“There’s a clear correlation between a lack of fiduciary awareness and plan sponsors that are less concerned with increasing employee engagement and protection in retirement plans,” says Dick Davies, senior managing director of AB’s defined contribution business and co-head of North American Institutions.

The survey also found that the use of target-date funds (TDFs) is rising, and those sponsors that use target-date funds take fiduciary concerns more seriously; 87% of sponsors with TDFs said fiduciary concerns were important or very important.

“What’s comforting is that the adoption of target-date funds is rising, and plan sponsors and participants alike want more innovative products that are changing the retirement outcomes for plan participants,” Davies says. “These include guaranteed income TDFs, multi-manager funds and other customization options available in the DC marketplace.”

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