Would you like to know if and how other plan sponsors use the services of investment managers? This latest installment in the International Foundation’s Survey & Sample Series includes eight samples and 167 survey responses submitted by members of the International Foundation and International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS).
Whether for a defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) plan, investment management services are used in one form or another by most respondents to the latest International Foundation survey.
DB plan respondents (94%) overwhelmingly use outside investment managers to invest plan assets. Most DB plans that use investment managers (65%) review their performance on a quarterly basis.
Additionally, most DB plan sponsors surveyed (88%) use another type of service provider, an investment management consultant. Popular consultant services used by these DB plan sponsors, based on the number who use the services, are:
Of the DC plan sponsors in the United States that responded to the survey, most (54%) rely on a bundled service provider arrangement. Unbundled arrangements are used by 31%, and 8% use an alliance arrangement.
Popular investment products/services used by DC plans in the United States, based on the number of respondents that use them, are:
Many DC plan sponsors (69%) use investment management consultants as well. As with DB plans, the top two consultant services used by DC plan sponsors are monitoring of investment managers (84%) and investment policy development and asset allocation (70%).
Part of the Survey & Sample Series, this survey details responses about relationships with and use of investment service providers. The responses, collected in September and October 2007, are from corporations, multiemployer trust funds and public/governmental employers in the United States and Canada. Eight sample requests for proposal (RFPs) used to solicit bids for investment services are included. B&C
Investment Management Services is available in print, CD-ROM or e-book formats. The book costs $107 (I.F. Members $43), plus shipping and handling. Item #6405.
To purchase a copy of Investment Management Services or any of the other publications in the Survey & Sample Series, see www.ifebp.org/surveysample; call (888) 334-3327, option 4; fax (262) 786-8780; e-mail bookstore@ifebp.org; or send a check to the Publications Department, International Foundation, P.O. Box 68-9953, Milwaukee, WI 53268-9953.