Morningstar, a provider of independent investment research, has announced that ING is now making available Morningstar Retirement Manager, including a managed retirement account service, to more than 26,000 retirement plan sponsor clients and 1.8 million plus participants.

This ‘do it for me’, fee-based discretionary account management service option expands the breadth of services offered by Morningstar Associates to ING clients, which include plan investment line-up selection and a free participant investment advice option.

The addition of discretionary managed accounts helps meet a range of participant needs, and may be used as a qualified default investment alternative under the provisions of the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

With Morningstar Retirement Manager, participants receive a personalized retirement strategy, including a retirement income goal assessment, recommended savings rate, and construction of an appropriate portfolio strategy based on individual goals. Participants who enroll in the managed account service will also benefit from professional asset management, ongoing account monitoring, and quarterly progress reports to help them track their advancement toward their goals.

Rick Mason, president of market segments at ING Retirement Services, said: By working with Morningstar, we are taking an extra step in providing our customers with an objective, third-party solution across the entire spectrum of defined contribution products, which includes plans for employees of small- to mid-sized corporate employers, government, healthcare and education entities.