Jennison Associates
Jennison Associates provides investment advisory services to principally institutional clients. Headquartered in New York City, the firm also has an office in Boston. Jennison's financial advisors currently oversee billions in assets under management (AUM).
The firm mainly focuses on managing portfolios for institutional clients such as corporate plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans. It conducts much of its equity portfolio management via its New York office, while most of its global equities portfolio management and investment research comes out of its offices in Boston.
Jennison Associates Background
In 1969, Jennison registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) as an investment advisor and began primarily managing tax-exempt U.S. large-cap-growth equity accounts. The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA) acquired the firm in 1985, and Jennison began managing mutual funds in 1990. Today, Jennison is a wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc., one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S.
Jennison Associates Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Jennison indirectly works with non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals, but institutional clients make up most of its client base. In fact, it serves:
- Investment companies
- Pooled in vestment vehicles
- Pension and profit-sharing plans
- Charitable organizations
- Municipal governments
- Insurance companies
- Sovereign wealth plans
- Corporations
- Welfare plans
Minimum account sizes vary by product, investment vehicles and characteristics of the program. Institutional clients would discuss these minimums with the firm, which may waive these minimums at its discretion.
Services Offered by Jennison Associates
Jennison primarily offers investment advisory services driven by specific investment strategies. These form the basis of its model portfolios:
- Growth Equity
- Small-Cap Equity
- Mid-Cap Equity
- Global Equity
- Emerging Markets Equity
- Value Equity
- Income Equity
- Fixed-Income
- Blended strategies
In addition, the firm extends these strategies and other individualized portfolio management services to clients of wrap-fee programs sponsored by third parties.
Jennison Associates Investment Philosophy
In evaluating securities, Jennison generally applies fundamental analysis. This research process involves projecting the performance of a company by deeply examining factors such as its financial statements, management experience and quality of products or services.
Moreover, the firm’s analysts specialize in specific market sectors. So they evaluate these companies by gathering insights from managers, customers, suppliers and others involved in its business.
Fees Under Jennison Associates
Fees for services from Jennison are generally negotiable. They vary based on the types of services provided and other factors. We describe the firm’s different fee-based programs below.
Fees for Separate Account Advisory Services vary depending on factors such as services rendered, account size, investment strategy and more. For discretionary services, the firm generally charges asset-based or performance-based fees. The latter means fees can climb higher based on how well your advisor can manage your account’s growth. For non-discretionary services, Jennison usually charges asset-based fees. Fees charged to investors in these vehicles are outlined in the fund’s offering documents.
Jennison serves as sub-advisor for collectively managed vehicles such as mutual funds and collective investment trusts. For these services, it typically charges both asset-based and performance-based fees.
Clients under managed accounts typically pay the sponsor a wrap fee which includes expenses for brokerage, custody and advisory services along with performance modeling and reporting. The sponsor then passes along part of that fee to Jennison. Full details would be available in the sponsor’s brochure for the wrap program.
Jennison also provides the following negotiable fee schedules for clients with dual contracts in certain programs:
| Large Cap Growth Equity Fee Schedule | |
| Fees | Assets |
| 0.75% | On first $10,000,000 |
| 0.50% | on the next $30,000,000 |
| 0.35% | on the next $25,000,000 |
| 0.25% | on the next $335,000,000 |
| 0.22% | On the balance |
| Large Cap Value Equity Fee Schedule | |
| Fees | Assets |
| 0.60% | On the first $25,000,000 |
| 0.50% | On the nest $25,000,000 |
| 0.40% | On the nest $50,000,000 |
| 0.30% | On the balance |
| Large Cap Blend Equity Fee Schedule | |
| Fees | Assets |
| 0.60% | On the first $50,000,000 |
| 0.50% | On the next $200,000,000 |
| 0.45% | On the balance |
| Global Equity Opportunities Fee Schedule | |
| Fees | Assets |
| 0.75% | On the first $25,000,000 |
| 0.60% | On the next $75,000,000 |
| 0.50% | On the balance |
The fees described above generally apply to advisory fees paid to Jennison. However, client accounts will bear all fees and expenses related to the management of their investments. These may include charges from custodians, brokers, third-party investment managers and more.
What to Watch Out For
Jennison has no regulatory or legal disclosures in its most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Opening an Account With Jennison Associates
To contact Jennison, visit its website or call the firm’s headquarters at (212) 421-1000.
All information was accurate as of the writing of this article.
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