Growth of wrap assets tops that for separates; Smith Barney's TRAK program vindicated.(News)

Investment News, February, 2007

Byline: Kathie O'Donnell BOSTON - Baby boomers who are retiring and rolling over their 401(k) money favor mutual fund wrap programs even though many are wealthy enough to qualify for separately managed accounts, industry observers say. Smith Barney, the No. 1 separate-accounts sponsor and home to the first mutual fund wrap program, reported that assets in its wrap program grew by about 40% last year to about $18 billion.

Assets in the firm's separate-accounts program rose 17% last year, though the firm declined to provide an actual dollar amount. New York-based Citigroup Inc.'s Smith Barney unit isn't the only firm to notice the increased popularity of wrap programs, which had been seen as separate accounts' plainer sister. Ameriprise...

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