MutualFundWire.com: Gus Fleites Teams Up With a 401k Firm

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Monday, March 26, 2012

Gus Fleites Teams Up With a 401k Firm

A former top executive at ProFunds and State Street Global Advisors is teaming up with a 401(k) recordkeeper focused on ETFs. Gus Fleites has signed on as CEO of Invest n Retire. The Portland, Oregon-based firm was founded by Darwin Abrahamson as a solution for small companies seeking to offer ETF-based 401(k) plans to their workers. With Fleites taking over as CEO, Abrahamson will lead operations at president

Fleites mission will be to build out distribution from Boston. He said that he expects to distribute Beta's models through Invest n Retire.

Fleites once led SSgA's advisor distribution as president of SSgA Funds Management, and he also previously served as chief investment officer and head of ETFs for ProFunds. Then four years ago he launched Beta Capital Advisors, which develops investment models using ETFs. He confirmed that he will continue to lead Beta.

While Invest n Retire is a 401(k) recordkeeper that specializes in using ETFs inside of plans, Abrahamson confirmed that the firm is now focusing on three areas.

The three are: licensing out its recordkeeping services to others; distributing models through broker-dealers; and working with SMA managers.

"The technology that Invest n Retire has developed is really positioning it well," Fleites told MFWire.com. "We'll be building a distribution effort."

"Our market is greatly expanding," Abrahamson told MFWire.com, adding that Invest n Retire is shifting away from direct work with plan sponsors.

Invest n Retire, LLC Appoints CEO Agustin J. (Gus) Fleites PORTLAND, Ore., March 26, 2012 -- Invest n Retire, LLC, (INR) a record keeper for tax-deferred retirement plans has recently announced the appointed of Agustin J. (Gus) Fleites as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Fleites, current Managing Director of Boston-based Beta Capital Advisors, LLC brings over 20 years of leadership experience to INR. He has extensive experience both as an investment manager and business leader helping investors apply passive investment strategies to meet their investment needs. At State Street Global Advisors Mr. Fleites established the asset allocation group where he worked closely with defined contribution and other retirement plans, endowments, and foundations developing and managing their investment plans. He was also a director of CitiStreet, a State Street- Citigroup venture and industry leader in defined contribution benefit plan administration services. Mr. Fleites is the former President of SSgA Funds Management, Inc. where he led the management and distribution of over $110 billion in ETFs mutual funds, and managed account assets. Mr. Fleites is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business; he holds an MBA from Babson College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

On joining INR, Mr. Fleites commented, "INR brings together the unique opportunity to marry the benefits of asset allocation, passive management, and technology to begin to close our nation's substantial retirement savings gap. I look forward to working with the INR team to bring innovative solutions to the defined contribution market."

Darwin Abrahamson, Founder and President of Invest n Retire, welcomed Mr. Fleites to his new position, "Mr. Fleites brings an exceptional amount of knowledge and experience to INR. He is ideally suited to lead this company into the future and towards its goal of delivering the next generation of retirement plans. We're committed to serving the best interests of plans and participants by delivering the most superior technology at the lowest cost. Mr. Fleites has the experience and knowledge to bring this solution, on a large scale, to those who need it most; the millions of American companies who have felt underserved by their retirement plans."

About Invest n Retire, LLC

Invest n Retire‚ LLC (INR)‚ located in Portland Oregon‚ was founded in 2000 by Darwin Abrahamson in response to the overwhelming demand for leading edge technology that can deliver financial tools and services to tax-deferred retirement plans. INR's uniquely designed patented system (U.S. Pat. 8,060,428) addresses and solves numerous problems confronting the retirement industry. www.investnretire.com