Affiliated Computer Services (NYSE: ACS) and UBS (NYSE: UBS) Global Asset Management today announced the formation of a new strategic alliance that will offer FORTUNE 500 plan sponsors an end-to-end retirement solution for Defined Contribution (DC) and Defined Benefit (DB) plans.
"Through our alliance, we are committed to providing plan sponsors a 'next generation' platform solution," said Kai Sotorp, Head of Americas, UBS Global Asset Management. "This will leverage ACS' industry-leading plan administration capabilities and the complete range of UBS Global Asset Management's DC and DB retirement offerings, including our Asset Liability Investment Solutions."
"Plan sponsors are recognizing that the old way of managing 401(k) plans, where they were seen as a supplemental source of retirement income, is no longer appropriate," added Drew Carrington, Head of the DC & Retirement Solutions Group, UBS Global Asset Management.
With participants now bearing more of the responsibility for their own retirement, plans are focusing on providing employees with the means to save more, earn more, and manage the right risks to help them maintain their lifestyle through retirement. That requires bringing the best institutional thinking to all retirement participants.
Among the DC & Retirement Solutions Group's offerings are the recently announced "next generation" target date funds that seek to offer participants a smoother ride up to and through retirement. The funds are designed to achieve more consistent returns by managing four major retirement risks - market, shortfall, inflation, and longevity risk - based on a 25-year active global asset allocation process. As part of this offering, UBS Global Asset Management and ACS will make recommendations, based on plan data analysis, on how sponsors can customize their plans to achieve better outcomes for employees.
"Working closely with UBS Global Asset Management, we have put together what we believe to be the industry's optimal solution, offering the institutional quality and many of the same benefits of a DB plan in a DC package," said Michael Sigmund, Senior Vice President at ACS Human Capital Management Solutions.
David Bywater, Senior Managing Director, ACS Human Capital Management Solutions, added, "This offering will allow plan sponsors to concentrate on their core competencies and strategic business objectives. As the concept of retirement continues to be redefined, our new offerings will change the traditional approach to retirement planning and enable a new era of smart 401(k)s."