Wilmington Trust Newsroom

First-of-its-kind technology simplifies use of collective investment trusts in employer-sponsored retirement plans

WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilmington Trust, a leader in corporate and institutional trust services, today announced the launch of BoardingPass, a digital solution that automates and simplifies the onboarding process for collective investment trusts (CITs).

BoardingPass is a technology application that digitizes the retirement plan onboarding process and creates a simplified experience for plan sponsors, advisors and recordkeepers to effectively manage their participation agreements and make CITs more accessible and transparent to more members of the U.S. workforce.

"We are thrilled to officially launch our BoardingPass solution, which will revolutionize the way the retirement industry onboards CITs in employer-sponsored retirement plans," said Rob Barnett, Institutional Business Line Leader for Retirement and Institutional Custody Services at Wilmington Trust. "As interest in CITs continues to surge in employer-sponsored retirement plans, we see a prime opportunity to streamline the use of these investment vehicles and to provide greater access to them for plan sponsors, advisors, recordkeepers and participants."

BoardingPass' innovative new features include:

BoardingPass acts as a central hub for all plan information. It empowers users to quickly complete work that traditionally required time-consuming interactions. Instead of having to manage paperwork that can be prone to mistakes and require an average of one to five business days to submit, the app provides a secure, web-based digital platform to perform critical tasks and reduce the timeline by up to 80%.

The tool automatically pulls key retirement plan data from thousands of plans in the IRS Form 5500 database and prepopulates the correct form fields to ensure accuracy. It also prepopulates any special share classes or specialty accounts relevant to a plan. This enables the advisor to focus more quickly on CIT fund selection. Fund requests can be sent in real-time to recordkeepers and plan sponsors.

Recordkeepers can sort and filter fund requests by all pertinent variables, including fund name, family, CUSIP and others. The tool also streamlines the information collection process by automatically flagging missing or inaccurate data. The recordkeeper then can quickly alert the advisor to address any issues in the tool instead of waiting days or weeks for documents to pass between parties.

Plan sponsors also gain the benefit of real-time information sharing and a digital connection to critical service providers. They can sort and monitor all fund requests pending approval and sort by plan name, recordkeeper or even advisor name. They can view all fund requests that need action (e.g., missing signature) and quickly address them.

BoardingPass is now available for a segment of Wilmington Trust clients and will be rolled out broadly in October.

To learn more about Wilmington Trust's CIT services, visit the firm's Collective Fund Services page. To learn more about the application, please visit BoardingPass Participation Agreement Application.

Wilmington Trust, N.A. provides Corporate and Institutional Services including institutional trust, agency, asset management, retirement plan, agency, asset management, and administrative services for clients worldwide who use capital markets financing structures. Wilmington Trust provides direct trust, 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.

MEDIA CONTACT
Pat Fitzgibbons, Senior Public Relations Manager, Wilmington Trust
Pfitzgibbons@mtb.com

Wilmington Trust is a registered service mark used in connection with various fiduciary and non-fiduciary services offered by certain subsidiaries of M&T Bank Corporation including, but not limited to, Manufacturers & Traders Trust Company (M&T Bank), Wilmington Trust Company (WTC) operating in Delaware only, Wilmington Trust, N.A. (WTNA), Wilmington Trust Investment Advisors, Inc. (WTIA), Wilmington Funds Management Corporation (WFMC), and Wilmington Trust Investment Management, LLC (WTIM). Such services include trustee, custodial, agency, investment management, and other services. International corporate and institutional services are offered through M&T Bank Corporation's international subsidiaries. Loans, credit cards, retail and business deposits, and other business and personal banking services and products are offered by M&T Bank, member FDIC.

Collective Investment Funds ("WTNA Funds") are bank collective investment funds; they are not mutual funds. WTNA Funds and units therein are exempt from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Investments in WTNA Funds are not deposits or obligations of or guaranteed by Wilmington Trust, and are not insured by the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, or any other governmental agency. WTNA Funds are commingled investment vehicles, and as such, the values of the underlying investments will rise and fall according to market activity; it is possible to lose money by investing in the WTNA Funds. Participation in Collective Investment Funds is limited primarily to qualified retirement plans and certain state or local government plans. Collective Investment Trust Funds may also be suitable investments for participants seeking to construct a well-diversified retirement savings program. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of any pooled investment fund carefully before investing.

This publication is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the sale of any financial product. Investors should seek financial advice regarding the suitability of investment strategies based on their objectives, financial situations, and particular needs.

Investments: • Are NOT FDIC Insured • Have NO Bank Guarantee • May Lose Value

SOURCE Wilmington Trust