Does anybody know of a "best of the best" type product for p

[SMB]

I am trying to determine if there are any providers of participant-directed investments (with recordkeeping/sub-accounting by contribution source) that offer investments among various fund families, similar to that offered by insurance company group variable annuities.

I know some of the mutual fund families (e.g., American Funds, MFS, etc.) offer a vehicle using their own family of funds.

Does anybody know of anybody that has a "best of the best"-type product - other than via a variable annuity?

Thanks!

[Guest Jennifer Reid]

Fidelity and INVESCO both offer bundled retirement plan services that include several different fund families other than their own funds.

[KIP KRAUS]

So does Vanguard.

[MoJo]

As does Strong.... And most other bundled service providers....

[Jon Chambers]

Schwab has the broadest range of investment choice that I'm aware of. Of course, defining "best of the best" is very difficult. Which investment is best? The one with the best performance (it's probably about to change, look at Janus over the past year or so)? The one with the most consistent performance? The one with the lowest fees? It's questions like these that make me happy to be an investment consultant.

[Alan Simpson]

Why not see if there is an independent TPA in your area that will allow you to invest in multiple families of funds.

I am a TPA and currently work with a broker who executes the trades among a number of fund families which are selected on a plan-by-plan basis.

Please note that in past conversations with some of the firms mentioned, I have learned that you can have other fund families. However, your options may be restricted to which funds are available and how many investment options must be with the "primary" fund family.

[Guest FredH]

I handle new business development in the Northeast for a company focused on providing such bundled solutions to small and mid-sized companies. Unlike the large mutual fund providers and insurance companies, however, we do not offer proprietary investment products or have any bias towards particular investment managers.

My employer, Invesmart, Inc. is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and we currently service approximately 7,000 plans in the small to medium market. Each of our defined contribution clients have access to a minimum of 500 mutual fund options from which to choose, in addition to the capability to add a self-directed brokerage window to the plan at any time.

While we do have a list of approximately 125 investment managers that we work with on a regular basis, we are willing to form an alliance with virtually any manager to allow for the inclusion of their funds in our plans - assuming they meet our various performance, risk,and expense related selection criteria.

For further information feel free to visit our website at www.invesmart.com or give me a call using the number listed below.

Regards,

Fred Huber

VP - Northeastern Business Development

Invesmart, Inc.

(781) 460-1000 ext.224

[Erik Read]

There are several alternatives similar to Investmart.

If your the sponsor - check out Team401(k), they offer a recordkeeping and admin via the web that's very cutting edge, and competitive with the annuity products you've discussed.

If your a TPA - check with Unified Trust Company, they have a "fiduciary ranking" service that ranks the funds available to them (almost the entire universe of fund families) with a very easy to follow scale for your sponsors to use. They do not provide Administration that I'm aware of.

Good luck.