PlanSponsorExchange.com Redesign Site; Changes Name to InvestorForce.com

PlanSponsorExchange.com, a password protected site that hosts discussion forums for plan sponsors, money managers and consultants to talk about issues facing the industry, has redesigned its site and changed its name to InvestorForce.com to reflect its expansion into other institutional investment markets. The site, which merged with State and Local PensionExchange.com in December, has seen its user base grow to 1300 registered plan sponsors on the site, which represents about $4 trillion in assets.

InvestorForce has added services to its site, since its June 1999 launch, to appeal to not only defined benefit plan sponsors, but the defined contribution market, foundations and other investment professionals. Denise Campbell, senior vice president, says that a particular draw has been the site’s account manager database.

"Our database access has been really successful," Campbell says. "It gives institutional investors and consultants alike free, online access to research from any of our contributing sources."

Dave Lyons, CTO, was quick to point out that research in the database is submitted by any participating money managers, outlining any number of their products or services. InvestorForce.com also hosts spot surveys, where plans sponsors can pose questions to a panel of experts from various investment management firms.

New to the site is a simplified navigational interface which has moved its left-hand tool bar into tabs at the top of the page. Lyons says that the site InvestorForce.com now includes a StockPoint section, which allows investors to track their specific holdings. The site has also added more information for 401k in its investment corner area and more data for defined contribution sponsors.

Since its acquisition of PensionExchange.com, the company has focused on growing into unified portal for the institutional investment arena. Speaking at the time of the acquisition, Frank Minard, president, explained, "We have corporations, public funds, Taft-Hartley funds, medical groups, religious groups on the site…(T)he industry only needs one portal."