Press Release
Fidelity Expands Discretionary Management Service For Retirement Plan Investors
Ibbotson Associates Added to Fidelity Retirement Plan Manager
MARLBOROUGH, MA, July 8, 2003 -- Fidelity Investments today expanded its recently introduced discretionary management service for participants in employer- sponsored retirement plans to include an investment methodology provided by Ibbotson Associates. These advisory services allow participants to delegate management of their defined contribution plans to professional investment managers.
The expansion now allows plan sponsors to choose investment methodologies from two registered investment advisors when considering Fidelity Retirement Plan Manager for their participants. Both Ibbotson, a leading provider of investment tools and knowledge, and Strategic Advisers, Inc., Fidelity's registered investment adviser that manages $19 billion in assets, can now deliver and monitor model portfolios customized to the plan's investment options for the discretionary management service. Participant servicing for both versions of Fidelity Retirement Plan Manager will be fully integrated with other Fidelity recordkeeping services.
"Since introducing the service, the response from participants in plans that offer the service has been very strong," said Kathryn Hopkins, executive vice president, Fidelity Institutional Retirement Services Company, the nation's 401k leader. "The addition of this new option provides a choice for those clients who want a third-party investment adviser, while also offering an option for clients who value the name recognition and expertise of a Fidelity affiliate. This is one of a number of ways we plan to expand the service in the future."
Fidelity began offering Fidelity Retirement Plan Manager to corporate and tax- exempt retirement savings plans in March 2003.
"This agreement brings together two organizations - Fidelity and Ibbotson - that are both committed to providing investment tools and knowledge to help individuals invest for a more comfortable retirement," said Mike Henkel, president of Ibbotson Associates.
About Ibbotson Associates
Ibbotson Associates, founded by Professor Roger Ibbotson in 1977, is a leading authority on asset allocation, providing products and services to help investment professionals obtain, manage and retain assets.
The company's business lines include investment and cost of capital consulting and research; planning and analysis software; wealth forecasting; educational services, and a widely used line of presentation materials. With offices in Chicago, New York and Tokyo, Ibbotson Associates provides integrated investment knowledge, leading-edge technology, multi-conceptual education and a variety of sales presentation solutions. Ibbotson markets its integrated product line of investment analytical tools and services to institutional money managers, plan sponsors, and consultants for quantitative analysis, high level decision making and presentations. The company's clients also include financial planners, brokers, mutual fund firms, private bankers and small money managers.
About Fidelity Investments
Through its Workplace Services offering, Fidelity Investments provides human resources administration and employee benefits solutions to more than 15 million participants in more than 11,500 retirement, pension, health and welfare, payroll and stock plans as of May 31, 2003.
Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of $1.5 trillion, including managed assets of $869.3 billion as of May 31, 2003. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 18 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediaries. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, one of the largest mutual fund supermarkets and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.
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