Greetings!
I have some exciting news to share with you today. Due to the retirement of the Chief Investment Officer for the Plan, the Board of Directors (“Board”) for the Directed Account Plan has hired Mercer Investment Consulting (“Mercer”) as an independent advisor and Consultant to the Board. Mercer will serve as a co-fiduciary to the Plan in conjunction with the Board and will assist the Board in monitoring investment performance, structuring the investment lineup provided to the participants, and will provide manager selection, portfolio modeling and asset allocation services.
Mercer was selected after an extensive review process that began last year. Mercer is a leading global provider of investment advice and services with extensive research capabilities. There are over 110 staff members involved in the research process alone and the majority (79%) have an MBA, CFA, Actuarial, Masters and other relevant qualifications. In the end, the Board decided that Mercer represented the best of the best and is looking forward to a great partnership with them going forward.
The Board will still retain the ultimate decision making capability with regards to investment decisions, but we now will have a co-fiduciary going forward that will help us in this area. Your Plan will still maintain the same excellent investment structure, but new enhancements like Target Date funds will be added in the near future. Mercer has proven to be a value added partner to many prominent clients in the past. A dedicated team of three highly qualified individuals (Philip Suess – CFA, Joseph Libbra – CAIA and CIMA, and Austin Roberds) will work directly with the Board. It is our belief that this partnership will continue to move the DAP to the forefront with regards to a lifelong retirement solution for our participants.
Sincerely,
Vincent Lombardi
Chairman – Directed Account Plan