Nationwide and Morningstar forge retirement plan partnership

The strategic collaboration will allow more plan participants to benefit from an advisor managed accounts service.

Nationwide has forged a partnership with Morningstar Retirement to offer a new advisor managed accounts service through its network.

Aimed at financial advisors who work with institutional and government retirement plan clients, the service integrates Morningstar Retirement’s proprietary technology and methodologies with professional advice, allowing plan participants with Nationwide to benefit from customized portfolios based on their needs.

The initiative addresses a common challenge among retirement savers: understanding how much to save for a comfortable retirement. According to research from the Nationwide Retirement Institute, 40 percent of plan participants are unsure of the savings needed to achieve their retirement objectives.

“Managed Accounts are designed to help participants feel confident that they have the right strategies in place when it comes to saving and investing for retirement,” Craig Hawley, senior vice president of retirement solutions sales at Nationwide, said in a statement.

“This service empowers advisors to help plan participants reach their retirement goals and deliver personalized and efficient retirement planning advice,” said Brock Johnson, president of global retirement at Morningstar Investment Management.

Through the service, advisors can work closely with plan sponsors to demonstrate their value and monitor strategies online, all without incurring additional costs for plans. Plan participants who enroll in the service will be charged management fees competitive with those of similar offerings on the market.

For plan sponsors, the advisor managed accounts provide a valuable resource for employees, potentially enhancing workplace productivity. With 73 percent of workers reporting that financial concerns significantly affect their job performance, according to research from PwC, the personalized support offered by the service could lead to better outcomes for both employees and employers.

“Through this collaboration with Morningstar Retirement, we’re able to offer a service that combines the best of both worlds: personalized advice and professional management from a trusted advisor and our award-winning service,” Hawley said.

The new advisor managed accounts service builds on Nationwide’s existing portfolio of managed account solutions, which includes the ProAccount managed accounts service launched in 2006.