Brian Jacobs

After more than a decade of guiding the $765 billion separately managed accounts industry into the mainstream of asset allocation strategies, the Money Management Institute of Washington has broadened its focus to include everything from mutual funds to insurance and alternative investments.

Brian Jacobs, 47, takes over as chairman of the MMI just in time to start pushing the limits of the association’s newly expanded reach. He is also a managing director for Allianz Global Investors U.S. Retail LLC of New York.

Mr. Jacobs’ aggressive agenda includes a larger and more diverse membership, new levels of data collection across multiple investment product lines and even a potential name change for the MMI.

Q. Does the MMI’s expanded focus introduce any potential redundancies or place the association in competition with other organizations?
A. No. The strategy of our new mission is to provide a product-agnostic approach to professionally managed solutions. Most other industry organizations are tied primarily to one product.

I also think that as we look at the demographics in our country, there is a growing need to look at products that are other than long-only — products that include some guarantees, and alternative asset classes to further diversify a client’s risk.

The unified managed accounts as a platform provides the technology to offer a broader range of products, and it’s important for our organization to reflect that change in our industry.

Q. Does this suggest a diminishing value or significance of the separately managed account?
A. I think our new mandate reflects our organization’s recognition that investors aren’t looking for a product; they’re looking for a solution.

The traditional SMA does not necessarily work in all cases, so we need to think of alternatives to that.

Q. How will the expanded mandate alter the organization’s membership?
A. If we take the approach of being somewhat product-agnostic, then you would want to represent a membership that is not tied to one specific category of money managers or sponsors. In other words, you would want to consider open-end-fund managers, insurance companies that provide a retirement income guarantee and fund-of-funds managers.

We want to have a membership that can talk about those kinds of solutions.

Q. What’s the status of that effort?
A. I’ve already been contacted by many different firms that — considering the broader mandate — have asked me how they can get involved.

We are also considering structural changes in the organization that would have leaders in different product categories.

So we might identify a leader on the board that would take over and really reflect the views of the open-end-mutual-fund business, or a leader in terms of hedge funds or insurance.

To my way of thinking, there isn’t another organization made up of the manufacturing and the home office sponsors that does this right now.

Q. As chairman, what are your specific goals for the year ahead?
A. Number one is to structure the organization so that it reflects this broader mandate.

Number two is having our meetings and services reflect this broader mandate.

The third key area is to enhance the educational and charitable work of the organization.

You’ll see further discussions in our meetings and in our communications about new charitable endeavors as well as additional educational programs.

Q. Is the MMI going to become more active as a lobbying organization?
A. The short answer is no. We are an expert resource to those in the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulators who need to understand how our industry works. If our industry starts to get increased attention, we’ll have to make a judgment call about how we support our industry.

Q. In what areas does the MMI plan to expand its data research?
A. In the past, it was focused on SMAs and other fee-based platforms, but what we want to do is provide a broader set of where the flows are and what the trends are in terms of where assets are moving, what investors are putting money into, what they’re not putting their money into.

Not only is it quantitative, we also expect to add on a layer of qualitative insight into that.

We want to be the source for trends in the industry from both a quantitative and a qualitative measurement, and we think this is an important feature, and one that I think the MMI is uniquely suited to provide.

Q. In five years, is it likely that people will no longer associate the MMI with separately managed accounts?
A. Yes, clearly, and I think it will be less than five years. The organization will reflect a broader membership and a broader discussion of industry issues.

It won’t be attached to a specific product as much as to professionally managed solutions. And that solution can take the form of a variety of different products.

As we think of our broader mandate, we’re doing a strategic analysis of the organization right now, and the name might actually change.

We want to really make sure we provide to our constituency an organization that reflects the reality of the marketplace.

E-mail Jeff Benjamin at [email protected].