Barclays Global Investors has tapped MetLife as the income annuity provider for its SponsorMatch product, which it launched last fall. The San Francisco-based money manager plans to bring in additional providers down the road.

Kristi Mitchem Barclays Global Investors Head of US Defined Contribution

San Francisco-based BGI is pitching the product, unveiled last October, as an investment vehicle for the sponsor's matching contribution. The product combines a target-date fund with the institutional investment strategies managed by BGI and a deferred fixed income annuity element.

In an interview with The MFWire's sister publication, The 401kWire, Kristi Mitchem, head of the US DC business at BGI, said MetLife was chosen due to its history, track record and stability.

MetLife, she added, offers a "quality annuity structured and priced the way we wanted it."

BGI will be adding providers in the future, she said. For now, she added, the timetable is open, and the addition of other providers will depend on factors such as how fast the fund grows.

No plan sponsor has yet signed a contract, though Mitchem said the product has attracted a significant amount of interest. She added that BGI's target is the same as it was when it launched the product last fall -- to start taking in money towards the end of the second quarter or beginning of the third quarter.

BGI met with 50 plan sponsors during the previous quarter, she said.  

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