Manulife John Hancock Retirement is partnering with Great Gray Trust Company to develop Lifetime Blend+, a proposed suite of target-date collective investment trusts (CITs) that would incorporate private market investments into defined contribution retirement plans. Subject to approval, the portfolios could allocate up to 20% to private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate, alongside public markets and stable value investments. The strategy is designed to address the challenge of helping retirement savers build assets during their working years and sustain income over potentially longer retirements.

Manulife and Great Gray Bring Private Markets to Target-Date Retirement Plans

Manulife John Hancock Retirement is developing a new target-date investment option that would give U.S. workplace retirement plan participants exposure to private markets, extending an industry effort to bring alternative assets into defined contribution portfolios.

The proposed Lifetime Blend+ suite will combine public market investments and stable value products with private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate. The portfolios are expected to allocate up to 20% to private markets, with the remaining assets invested in Manulife John Hancock-affiliated collective investment trusts (CITs) and stable value products.

The collaboration with Great Gray Trust Company addresses an important operational requirement: making private assets available through a retirement investment vehicle designed for daily valuation and participant-directed transactions. Great Gray is expected to serve as trustee and provide the trust structure, fiduciary oversight and administration. The proposed portfolios remain in development and are subject to final approvals; their availability and final composition have not been confirmed.

A Target-Date Structure With Private Asset Exposure

Target-date strategies are widely used in defined contribution retirement plans, including 401(k) plans. They typically adjust their allocation between growth-oriented and more conservative investments as participants approach a specified retirement year. The approach is intended to simplify portfolio management for workers who may not actively rebalance their investments.

Lifetime Blend+ would extend this framework by incorporating private market exposures across the investment lifecycle. The proposed private markets allocation includes an equity solution managed by Apollo Global Management; infrastructure exposure managed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management and StepStone Group; and real estate managed by Townsend. Manulife Investment Management would also contribute its in-house real estate capabilities and credit strategies through Manulife | CQS Investment Management and Manulife | Comvest Credit Partners.

The portfolio is built around Manulife Investment Management’s Lifetime Through Glidepath, developed by its Multi-Asset Solutions Team. Its modeling considers the competing risks of participants outliving their savings and failing to accumulate enough assets to meet retirement needs.

The strategy is intended to support both accumulation and decumulation: the years when participants build retirement savings and the period when they draw on those assets. The inclusion of private credit and infrastructure could add income-oriented exposures, while private equity and real estate are intended to provide other sources of return and diversification. These are portfolio objectives, not guaranteed outcomes.

Why Collective Investment Trusts Matter

CITs are pooled investment vehicles available to eligible qualified retirement plans. Unlike mutual funds, they are generally exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and are not offered directly to individual retail investors. Their use in workplace retirement plans has made them an important structure for institutional investment strategies.

Private assets, however, introduce challenges that are less prominent in portfolios holding publicly traded securities. Private investments may not trade frequently, valuations can rely on models or periodic appraisals, and investors may have limited ability to exit positions quickly.

A daily-valued retirement vehicle therefore needs processes for handling participant transactions, cash flows and the valuation of less-liquid underlying holdings. Great Gray is expected to provide the trustee and administrative framework for Lifetime Blend+, while maintaining ultimate fiduciary authority over the proposed collective investment funds.

That structure does not make the underlying private assets liquid. Daily valuation is a feature of the vehicle’s accounting and participant experience; it should not be interpreted as evidence that every underlying investment can be sold daily at an observable market price.

Private Markets Move Further Into Workplace Retirement

The proposed launch comes amid growing efforts by asset managers and retirement providers to introduce alternative investments into defined contribution plans. Private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate have historically been more accessible to institutional investors, including endowments and pension funds, than to ordinary workplace retirement savers.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2020 information letter addressed the possibility of including private equity as a component of an asset allocation fund in an individual account plan. It emphasized that plan fiduciaries must assess the investment’s structure, fees, liquidity, valuation and other relevant factors under their ERISA responsibilities. The letter did not provide blanket approval for private equity investments in 401(k) plans.

The commercial opportunity is substantial for providers that can combine investment management, recordkeeping compatibility and fiduciary oversight. Manulife John Hancock reported that it serviced more than 56,000 retirement plans, covering over 3.3 million participants and more than $278 billion in assets under management and administration as of September 30, 2026. Great Gray reported $371.8 billion in fund assets as of June 30, 2026. These figures indicate the scale of the firms’ respective retirement platforms, although they do not represent assets committed to Lifetime Blend+.

Fees, Valuation and Liquidity Will Matter

The potential benefits of adding private assets need to be weighed against their distinct risks. Private market investments can involve higher fees, limited liquidity, valuation uncertainty and less frequent disclosure than public securities. A target-date structure also does not eliminate the risk that market performance, inflation or withdrawals will leave participants with insufficient retirement income.

For plan sponsors and fiduciaries, the central questions will include how the private markets allocation is sized, how valuations are determined, how fees affect net returns and how the portfolio manages participant withdrawals. The glidepath’s allocation decisions will also matter as participants move closer to retirement and begin drawing down savings.

Manulife says it will support the proposed solution with investor education resources explaining how private assets fit within a broader retirement strategy. That education will be important because participants may associate daily-valued target-date investments with the liquidity and transparency of traditional public-market funds.

Lifetime Blend+ illustrates the direction of retirement product development: combining traditional diversified portfolios with institutional-style private market exposures inside familiar workplace savings structures. Whether the approach improves participant outcomes will depend on final portfolio design, implementation costs, governance and long-term investment performance.

Market Landscape

The U.S. defined contribution market is becoming a focus for private market investment managers seeking new distribution channels. Lifetime Blend+ reflects several developments:

• Alternative asset access: Retirement providers are exploring ways to incorporate private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate into professionally managed portfolios.
• CIT adoption: Collective investment trusts provide a structure for institutional investment strategies within eligible workplace retirement plans.
• Longevity planning: Longer retirement periods are increasing attention on portfolio income, inflation resilience and withdrawal strategies.
• Fiduciary scrutiny: Private asset allocations require careful evaluation of fees, liquidity, valuation methods, governance and participant outcomes.
• Multi-manager portfolios: Asset managers are combining internal investment teams with specialist external managers to broaden portfolio exposures.

The Department of Labor’s 2020 information letter provides a framework for fiduciary consideration of private equity components in defined contribution plan investment options, but it does not amount to blanket regulatory approval.

Top Insights

• Lifetime Blend+ is a proposed target-date CIT suite combining public markets, stable value and private market exposures for defined contribution retirement plans.
• The portfolios could allocate up to 20% to private markets, including private equity, credit, infrastructure and real estate.
• Great Gray is expected to serve as trustee, providing fiduciary oversight and operational infrastructure for the proposed daily-valued investment vehicle.
• Apollo, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, StepStone Group and Townsend are among the external managers identified for planned private market exposures.
• Final approvals, fees, liquidity arrangements and portfolio composition remain outstanding, making the product’s eventual structure important for plan sponsors and fiduciaries.

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