Transamerica Retirement Advisors (TRA) is a subsidiary of Transamerica Retirement Solutions, LLC, which serves retirement plans. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, TRA employs hundreds of advisors around the country. The fee-based firm manages more than $8 billion in assets for individual and institutional clients.
The firm offers a range of services across the financial planning and investment portfolio management verticals.
Transamerica Retirement Advisors Background
Transamerica Retirement Advisors has been in business since 1992. It is a part of the AEGON family of companies, which is a multinational and publicly traded insurance group. AEGON also owns Transamerica Corporation, which is the parent company of all Transamerica affiliates, including TRA.
This firm employs a large staff of hundreds of financial advisors who boast a range of advisory certifications, including the certified financial planner (CFP), chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified long-term care (CLTC), chartered financial consultant (ChFC) and certified investment management analyst (CIMA).
Transamerica Retirement Advisors Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
Transamerica Retirement Advisors accepts multiple client types, including individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations and businesses. That said, the firm's current client base consists solely of non-high-net-worth individuals and several pension and profit-sharing plans.
For clients enrolled in Transamerica's Personalized Portfolios program, the minimum is $5,000. For those enrolled in the Third-Party Money Management Services program, the minimums are $50,000 for mutual fund portfolios and $25,000 for exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios. Clients through employer-sponsored retirement plans generally do not have minimums.
Services Offered by Transamerica Retirement Advisors
As the name of the firm suggests, services offered by Transamerica Retirement Advisors are generally geared toward helping clients set and achieve retirement goals through investment management. Here's a breakdown of its specific offerings:
- Transamerica Personalized Portfolios (TPP): This individual-centric investment management program features an online account management service that involves the creation of a customized portfolio plan.
- Managed Advice: This advisory service is built to aid both retirement plan sponsors and their plan participants. It looks to both formulate an asset allocation plan for participants and provide investing and retirement savings advice.
- Defined Benefit Plan Asset Allocation Services: For this service, TRA advises employer plan sponsors on the asset allocations of their defined benefit and pension plans. It doesn't offer individual investment advice, but rather more large-scale insights.
- Third-Party Money Management Services (TPMM): TPMM offers clients access to money manager Morningstar. This third-party manager focuses on portfolio models that utilize ETFs and mutual funds.
Transamerica Retirement Advisors Investment Philosophy
While the firm's investment philosophies vary from program to program, advisors at TRA look to tailor strategies and asset allocations to the financial and retirement objectives of each client. Advisors work with you to identify your long-term objectives and current financial situation, and then they make recommendations accordingly. Ultimately, advisors offer retirement advice, general investing advice or some blend of the two.
Most of the investments that TRA and its affiliate firm, NextCapital, recommend are ETFs and mutual funds. If you have specific investing preferences, the firm can take these into account to a certain extent.
Fees Under Transamerica Retirement Advisors
When it comes to Transamerica Retirement Advisors' fee schedule for its individual-centric service, Transamerica Personalized Portfolios (TPP), the firm charges a non-negotiable asset-based fee. These charges are paid on a quarterly basis, in arrears, directly from your account's balance.
| Transamerica Personalized Portfolios (TPP) Fee Schedule | |
| Assets Under Management | Annual Fee Rates |
| $5,000 - $149,999 | 0.95% |
| $150,000 - $999,999 | 0.90% |
| $1MM and above | 0.80% |
In dollars, fees would look like this:
| *Estimated investment management fees do not include brokerage, custodial, third-party manager or other fees, which can vary in amount. | |
| Estimated Investment Management Fees (TPP) at Transamerica Retirement Advisors* | |
| Your Assets | Transamerica Retirement Advisors Fee Amounts |
| $500K | $4,750 |
| $1MM | $8,000 |
| $5MM | $40,000 |
| $10MM | $80,000 |
With respect to TRA's other advisory services, fees are based on the following ranges:
| Other Transamerica Retirement Advisors Fees | |
| Service | Annual Fee Range |
| Defined Benefit Plan Asset Allocation Services | 0.05% - 0.25% |
| Managed Advice service | Up to 0.50% |
| Third-Party Money Management Services (TPMM) | 0.75% - 1.30% |
Learn more about advisors' typical costs here.
What to Watch Out For
Transamerica Retirement Advisors has multiple disclosures of regulatory actions in its SEC-filed Form ADV. Both involved affiliates — one was a firm and the other was an individual.
Also worth noting: As part of a large corporate family, TRA has many affiliations with financial service firms, including Transamerica Asset Management, Inc., Transamerica Capital Inc., Massachusetts Fidelity Trust Company, Aegon USA Investment Management, LLC, several Transamerica-brand insurance companies and more. These can pose potential conflicts of interest when an advisor recommends their services or products.
Similarly, advisors may be brokers and/or insurance agents who collect transaction-based fees or commissions, an arrangement that can also pose potential conflicts of interest. That said, as a fiduciary, TRA is legally obligated to act in clients' best interests at all times.
Opening an Account With Transamerica Retirement Advisors
Those interested in becoming a client of Transamerica Retirement Advisors can visit the firm's website and either fill out a contact form or enroll directly in an advisory program. You can also speak to a TRA representative on the phone by calling (866)-368-0566.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
Tips for Financial Planning
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