Northern Trust Offers Help with Custom TDFs

Northern Trust has enhanced its services for defined contribution (DC) sponsors to help them more efficiently manage their custom target-date funds (TDFs).

Using the SunGard Global Network (SGN) Funds platform, Northern Trust offers more flexibility to support trading for multi-manager white label funds for DC plans.

In order to manage risk, plan sponsors have increasingly chosen multi-manager portfolios or “white label” funds that provide diversification from the risk of using one investment manager for plan investment options, Northern Trust notes. Operationally, this requires additional, connected portfolio management and trade routing capabilities for the recordkeeper and custodian banks. SunGard receives trades from recordkeepers, performs pre-defined trade splitting, and as a member of the National Securities Settlement Corporation (NSCC), sends the corresponding trades to the NSCC and fund managers.  

“As our clients have increasingly chosen custom, white label funds as an option for their participants, we want to give them more flexibility,” says Tom Lauer, defined contribution consultant at Northern Trust. “SunGard’s solution gives clients a broader selection of recordkeepers, as not all recordkeepers currently facilitate this process.”

Bob Santella, president of SunGard’s global trading business, says, “SunGard Global Network Funds’ expanded portfolio management and trading capabilities provide an automated solution to manage custom investment options, helping to increase the capacity and efficiency of the trading process.” 

More information about Northern Trust is at www.northerntrust.com.