Deals and People July 6, 2018

Retirement Industry People Moves

Church Pension Fund announces series of appointments, and INTAC joins Ascensus TPA Solutions division.

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The Church Pension Fund (CPF) announced the election of The Reverend Thomas J. Brown as chair of its Board of Trustees (CPF Board), effective upon the close of General Convention. He succeeds Barbara Creed, who served as chair since 2015 and as vice chair from 2009 to 2015. In addition, Canon Kathryn Weathersby McCormick (subject to her re-election to the CPF Board) and The Rt. Reverend Brian Prior have been elected vice chairs, succeeding The Reverend Timothy J. Mitchell and Sandra S. Swan.

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Reverend Brown currently serves as rector of The Parish of the Epiphany in Winchester, Massachusetts, and has served on the CPF Board since 2009. Canon McCormick, who currently serves as president of Province IV, previously served as canon for Administration and Finance for the Diocese of Mississippi, and has served on the CPF Board since 2012. Bishop Prior is the ninth Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota and has served on the CPF Board since 2015.

INTAC Joins Ascensus TPA Solutions Division

Ascensus has entered into an agreement to acquire INTAC Actuarial Services, Inc. (INTAC). The third-party administration (TPA) firm will immediately become part of Ascensus’ TPA Solutions division.

Based in Ridgewood, New Jersey, INTAC provides administration of employer-sponsored retirement plans for about 3,000 small to mid-sized companies, their owners, key executives and employees. INTAC also provides ongoing education to their clients and the professionals in the communities they service to ensure that they remain abreast of industry changes and issues.

“Geographically speaking, the tri-state and greater Delaware areas are important market expansion opportunities for our TPA Solutions division,” says Raghav Nandagopal, Ascensus’ executive vice president of corporate development and M&A. “With its strong historical growth, successful long-term track record, and associate-focused culture, INTAC is an ideal business to help Ascensus achieve its immediate and long-term growth plans.”  

Products July 5, 2018

Vanguard to Offer Commission-Free ETF Online Transactions

Web transactions will start in August, the firm says.

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Vanguard has announced reductions in the cost of investing with the firm by providing commission-free online transactions for the vast majority of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The program will exclude highly speculative and complex ETFs, according to Vanguard.

 

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Vanguard expects online transactions to be available in August and will include the majority of ETFs traded on the major exchanges. 

 

“Vanguard wants to be the premier provider for long-term investors who want the flexibility to hold a wide array of low-cost funds and ETFs, coupled with the convenience of interacting with a single firm,” says Karin Risi, managing director of Vanguard’s Retail Investor Group. “Investors will be able to assemble balanced, diversified portfolios from virtually the full universe of ETFs to meet their financial goals, add additional assets regularly, and periodically rebalance—all without paying a commission.”

 

In February, Vanguard broadened its ETF family beyond index-based portfolios by introducing the firm’s first actively managed ETFs. Vanguard’s five single factor funds seek to achieve specific risk or return objectives through targeted factor exposures—minimum volatility, value, momentum, liquidity, and quality. The sixth ETF follows a multi-factor approach. Vanguard has also recently announced plans to introduce two new environmental, social and governance (ESG) ETFs, expected to launch in September of this year.

 

To help investors better understand ETFs, Vanguard has developed educational content and interactive tools on its website, including a “Compare ETFs” tool, enabling investors to conduct a side-by-side review of the expense ratios, portfolio characteristics, and other data of available ETFs.

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