Firms Join Forces to Launch Personalized Managed Account Program

This article was originally posted by the National Association of Plan Advisors.

by Ted Godbout

LeafHouse, iJoin, and ARS have announced a new partnership to deliver a technology-driven solution that provides a personalized savings and income experience for participants within a managed account offering.

Named the Automated Personalized Portfolio™ (APP) program, LeafHouse will be the fund fulfillment and allocation technology provider, as well as the participant-level fiduciary (the 3(38)).

The State Street GTC Retirement Income Builder Series will be used as the core investment. This will be combined with State Street Global Advisors’ asset management expertise, along with ARS’s patent-pending lifetime income innovation. Global Trust Company (GTC) will serve as the fiduciary and trustee of the Series. The starting cost of the APP will be 7 basis points (not including investment expense), the announcement further shows.

Citing data from Franklin Templeton’s 2023 Voice of the American Worker Survey, the firms note that 78% of workers would be interested in more personalized 401(k) investment options tailored to their financial situation. Additionally, 85% believe in-plan lifetime income should be an option in their retirement plan, the survey found.

“When 85% of your customer base is demanding something, you better consider providing it,” LeafHouse CEO Todd Kading stated.

As such, the solution is designed to meet these participant needs, the firms note. The LeafHouse FlexFiduciary™ and reallocateIT™ portfolio management technologies, combined with iJoin’s participant experience, creates an automated personalized portfolio.   

In addition, the State Street GTC Retirement Income Builder Series delivers growth potential, retirement risk mitigation, and a personalized lifetime income strategy by embedding ARS’s Lifetime Income Builder into the core portfolio’s glidepath. What’s more, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP will provide investment solutions to APP clients to complement the core investment.

“This consortium of industry-leading product innovators was established to help drive better participant outcomes through participant-centric innovation,” said Dave Paulsen of ARS. “We are committed to offering participants personalized saving vehicles that also seek to deliver lifetime income, aiming to provide the tools they are asking for to help achieve their financial goals in retirement.”