American Century Investments, the Kansas City-based investmentmanagement company that has built its brand on actively managedmutual funds, has tapped an LPL executive to lead its newRetirement Strategy and Services division.

“We’re moving to position ourselves as a ‘retirementdestination’,” said Peter Cieszko, the company’s chief clientofficer for the Americas.

Adam Sokolic, who had been a vice president with LPL’sRetirement Partners division, will move to American Century to leadthe new division.

Sokolic led the development and marketing of LPL’s advisorplatform for delivering advice to plan participants.

Retirement is already embedded in all of American Century’sbusinesses, said Cieszko. Of the $150 billion in assets undermanagement in the company’s funds, $40 billion are held in definedbenefit and contribution plans and in IRAs. About $12 billion arein the company’s proprietary target-date funds.

The company’s newly organized retirement focus comes aslitigation and technology continue to put downward pressure on thefees plan participants and retail investors pay.

Cieszko said the creation of a centralized retirement divisionis not a direct reaction to either trend specifically, but aneffort to evolve the fund company with the outcome orientedsolutions more sponsors are demanding.

“Right now the Holy Grail in the retirement industry isfinancial wellness,” he said.

And financial wellness can’t be understood without answering thecore questions of what is good financial advice, and what should itcost.

“Advice is personal to the needs of individuals. Making theconversation on fees about a race to zero doesn’t consider theneeds and interests of all investors.”

Cieszko does not see the “robo” movement as a threat to AmericanCentury’s model, which applies a price to its professionallymanaged funds.

“Fees are an issue only when the value-proposition of the management is inquestion, in the absence of value-add.”

The robo movement won’t eliminate the need for actively managedfunds, but rather provides a “tech overlay” that compliments, butcan never fully replace human interaction.

“Technology and the robo movement can increase the value ofquality advice,” said Cieszko. "At the end of the day, that willmake for a better experience for the client."