Diversified Investment Advisors Hires Mesirow Financial to Customize and Manage Target Date Maturity Portfolios for Plan Sponsors

CHICAGO, February 6, 2008 — Mesirow Financial Investment Strategies announced that it is customizing and managing target maturity portfolios for Diversified Investment Advisors, Inc., a national investment advisory firm specializing in retirement plans that services over 1.3 million participants and more than $34 billion in assets. Mesirow Financial's customized target maturity portfolios are made available to Diversified's plan sponsor clients as an alternative investment solution that can be integrated into Diversified's innovative PortfolioXpress^SM service. The target date portfolios also fulfill Qualified Default Investment Alternative (QDIA) requirements for plan sponsors. Mesirow Financial Investment Strategies is part of Mesirow Financial Investment Management, Inc., a SEC Registered Investment Advisor.

Mesirow Financial customizes the target maturity portfolios using funds in a given plan line-up. The portfolios enable plan sponsors to offer participants a diversified retirement savings strategy that corresponds to a designated retirement year without having to select additional funds for their plan. The portfolios follow a glide-path that changes equity and fixed income allocations as the participant moves closer to retirement. Mesirow Financial serves as investment manager to the portfolios, thereby fulfilling the QDIA requirement and alleviating plan sponsors from carrying the additional fiduciary responsibility.

Mesirow Financial unveiled its innovative target maturity methodology late last year. "Our target maturity methodology is unique in that it not only takes into account a proper allocation for a targeted retirement date, but it also focuses on the issue of longevity risk, protecting investors from outliving their retirement savings," says Michael Annin, CFA, managing director of Mesirow Financial Investment Strategies. Research supporting Mesirow Financial's methodology demonstrates that its target maturity portfolios maximize cumulative wealth and minimize the probability of depleting all of a portfolio's assets during one's retirement under a wide range of investment behavior assumptions. "We are thrilled to work with Diversified to assist their clients in better serving their plan participants."

Diversified's PortfolioXpress^SM provides the advantages of target date strategies without complicating the fund line-up for participants. The service is flexible enough to work with any glidepath. "What attracted us to Mesirow Financial was their unique equity glide-path and their willingness to strategize with us around the QDIA requirements," commented Patricia Advaney, senior vice president of participant solutions at Diversified.

Mesirow Financial's target maturity portfolios have been implemented by several Diversified clients. Mesirow Financial expects to launch similar programs with other leading plan providers this year.

Mesirow Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago. Founded in 1937, it is an independent employee-owned firm with $30 billion in assets under management and 1,100 employees in offices across the country. With expertise in Investment Management, Investment Services, Insurance Services, Investment Banking, Consulting and Real Estate, Mesirow Financial has consistently met the financial needs of institutions, public sector entities, corporations and individuals. For more information about Mesirow Financial, visit its Web site at www.mesirowfinancial.com.

For more information, please contact: Natalie Bauer, Mesirow Financial, 312-595-8158.

 

The Mesirow Financial name and logo are registered service marks of Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc., © 2007, Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not necessarily complete and its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. It should not be assumed that any recommendations incorporated herein will be profitable or will equal past performance. Nothing contained herein constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any Mesirow Financial investment vehicle(s).

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