NEW YORK, December 1, 2020 — Wilmington Trust, a leader in institutional trust services, and Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, today announced their collaboration to distribute CITs for defined contribution clients via specialty retirement advisor channels.
“Wilmington Trust is committed to working with prominent asset managers such as Neuberger Berman to efficiently deliver CIT solutions to the defined contribution market,” said Rob Barnett, Group Vice President and Head of Retirement Distribution, Wilmington Trust. “Despite the difficulties of working through a global pandemic, we are proud to have established a new strategic alliance to help advisors, consultants, plan sponsors and participants make better informed decisions about their retirement plan portfolios and meet their long-term goals.”
“Accessing the Wilmington Trust platform enables us to deepen our connections with specialty retirement advisors, empowering them to drive greater awareness of CITs and why they should be considered for appropriate retirement plans,” said Michelle Rappa, Managing Director and Client Advisor, Neuberger Berman. “We’re excited to be a part of an ecosystem that will enable us to broaden our reach in this market and offer expanded access to Neuberger Berman’s strategies.”
Through this alliance, plan advisors may also benefit from greater operational efficiencies so they can more effectively work across their entire book of business. With no minimum investment requirements, the Wilmington Trust platform enables advisors to access various Neuberger Berman strategies for retirement plans of any size. Neuberger Berman has a wide breath of investment solutions, many of which are now more accessible via a CIT structure to address the unique needs of plan clients.
CITs are often a lower-cost fee option for plan clients and have operational and processing conveniences similar to those of a mutual fund, as well as the transparency required by plan sponsors. They may be traded through the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC).
Wilmington Trust is a leader in the CIT market with more than $70 billion in assets under administration across funds managed by more than 45 sub-advisors and available on more than 47 trading platforms as of September 30, 2020. Wilmington Trust collaborates with more than two dozen industry partners, including Neuberger Berman, to offer access to CITs.
About Neuberger Berman
Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 24 countries, Neuberger Berman’s diverse team has over 2,300 professionals. For six consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). In 2020, the PRI named Neuberger Berman a Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The PRI also awarded Neuberger Berman an A+ in every eligible category for our approach to ESG integration across asset classes. The firm manages $374 billion in client assets as of September 30, 2020. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.
About Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust, N.A. provides corporate and institution services including institutional trustee, retirement plan, agency, asset management, and administrative services for clients worldwide who use capital markets financing structures. Wilmington Trust provides directed trustee, custody, and fiduciary services for retirement plans, companies, foundations, organizations, and financial institutions.
Wilmington Trust also provides Wealth Advisory services with a wide array of personal trust, financial planning, fiduciary, asset management, and family office solutions designed to help high-net-worth individuals and families grow, preserve and transfer wealth.
Wilmington Trust maintains offices throughout the United States and internationally in London, Paris, Dublin, and Frankfurt. For more information, visit www.WilmingtonTrust.com.
Media Contacts:
Wilmington Trust
Maya Dillon
(212) 415-0557
mdillon@wilmingtontrust.com
Neuberger Berman
Alex Samuelson
(212) 476-5392
Alexander.samuelson@nb.com