Product & Service Launches

Pontera and Oppenheimer Partner To Incorporate Client 401(k)s

Oppenheimer & Co. will join the firms partnering with Pontera Solutions Inc. to manage clients’ workplace retirement accounts along with other assets.

The partnership will give Oppenheimer’s 928 financial advisers the ability to use Pontera to help manage clients’ 401(k) accounts; the firm has $129.8 billion in assets under administration.

“We believe the Pontera platform gives our advisers greater clarity into their clients’ full financial picture,” Bryan McKigney, Oppenheimer Asset Management’s president, said in a statement. “By enhancing our technology stack for financial advisers, we continue to deliver a superior client experience, helping them to implement their overall wealth management strategy.”

Pontera noted that its system is certified under information security standards SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, designed to protect client data and prevent advisers from gaining direct access to their clients’ 401(k)s.

SEI Expands SMA Offerings in Equity and Fixed Income

SEI Investments Co. has launched a new lineup of separately managed account strategies through a program aimed at offering more equity and fixed-income investment options.

The additions include SEI-managed and third-party strategies from investment firms including AllianceBernstein, Loomis Sayles and Parametric Portfolio Associates.

SEI pointed out in the announcement that SMAs posted the strongest growth rate (24.4%) of any managed account product category in the last 12-month period, with both SMAs and unified managed accounts growing, according to data from Cerulli Associates.

“These new additions to our rapidly growing SMA and UMA solutions reinforce SEI’s ongoing commitment to enhancing the adviser experience with solutions that align with the complexities of modern wealth management,” Erich Holland, SEI’s executive managing director and head of adviser strategy and experience, said in a statement.

AssetMark Adds TIFIN AI Capabilities for Advisers

Wealth management solutions provider AssetMark Inc. has expanded its relationship with TIFIN Sage, an artificial intelligence-powered investment platform, to incorporate TIFIN’s AI solutions into AssetMark’s investment consulting services.

The expanded relationship aims to help investment consultants rapidly gather insights, align advisory firm inputs and deliver personalized model portfolios with greater efficiency.

“TIFIN Sage’s AI technology helps us empower more advisor practices and drive client outcomes in a rapidly evolving wealth management landscape,” David McNatt, an executive vice president of investment solutions at AssetMark, said in a statement.

AllianceBernstein Offering Direct Index Investment Product

AllianceBernstein L.P. has launched the AB Tax Advantaged Balanced Direct Index portfolio, which combines equities and municipal bonds into a separately managed account.

The solution is designed to customize client tax situations and risk preferences for investors. That includes automated tax loss harvesting across stocks and bonds in addition to AB Intelligent Rebalancing, which seeks to reduce tax costs associated with rebalancing.

The firm also launched the AB Tax Advantaged Equity Direct Index and the AB Tax Advantaged Strategic Research Balanced with Municipals, which are, respectively, equity-only direct indexing and tax-managed active multi-asset portfolios.

The firm’s portfolio management teams include Matthew Norton, Daryl Clements, Andrew Potter, Paul Robertson and John McLaughlin.

“We believe maximizing after-tax returns is critical for high-tax taxable investors,” AB’s head of separately managed accounts, Gavin Romm, said in a statement. “Through these solutions, we’re seeking to introduce the next generation of balanced investing with an innovative core portfolio and improved approach to rebalancing and systematic tax loss harvesting.”