Morgan Forms 11 Funds for U.K. Pensions

J.P. Morgan & Co. is expanding its retirement plan business in the United Kingdom with a new family of life-cycle mutual funds.

Monday, the New York banking company announced formation of 11 mutual funds, called the Lifetime Funds, for defined contribution plans.

Starting next month, the program will be introduced in London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Morgan is targeting employees of British companies with which it already does business, such as defined benefit or investment banking clients.

"U.K. companies are showing growing interest in using defined contribution plans to meet the retirement fund needs of their employees," Mark Stanley, a vice president of J.P. Morgan in London, said in a prepared statement.

The funds will be offered through J.P. Morgan Assurance Ltd., a U.K. unit set up for the program in November. In addition to seven portfolios investing in specific asset classes - U.K. equity, global equity, emerging market equity, U.K. bond, U.K. index-linked gilt, global bond, and cash - there are three balanced funds: Lifetime Growth, Lifetime Moderate, and Lifetime Cautious. Another fund is set up for people close to retirement.

Morgan manages about $54 billion of client assets in the United Kingdom, primarily in defined benefit plans. The bank manages about $256 billion of assets for individual and institutional investors worldwide.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER