Counsel Wealth Management today announced the appointment of Ibbotson Associates as an independent third party provider of portfolio modeling services to the firm.

Ibbotson, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., will provide portfolio risk evaluations at the asset class level and asset class return estimates.

“As a comprehensive portfolio service provider, Counsel has always emphasized objective independence as a cornerstone in our portfolio manager selection and monitoring processes. Working with Ibbotson will further entrench this value proposition,” says Sam Febbraro, president and CEO of Counsel. “Simultaneously, through this relationship, we will be enhancing our level of transparency in the design and construction of our portfolios,” adds Febbraro.

Through its relationship with Ibbotson, the firm will now strengthen its objectivity in portfolio monitoring. Ibbotson was chosen for this process because of its strong asset class evaluation methodology and its track record in asset allocation modeling. Ibbotson’s portfolio risk evaluations and asset class return estimates will be used to help Counsel reaffirm the effectiveness of its asset diversification strategies across all its portfolios.

“The use of Ibbotson’s analysis will complement our in-house portfolio design optimization strategies,” explains Corrado Tiralongo, Counsel’s chief investment officer. “Relative to the use of historical performance, portfolio modeling and risk evaluations can be useful in mitigating some of the potential future volatility in a portfolio. This helps us provide the best risk-adjusted returns to investors,” Tiralongo adds.

Toronto-based Counsel is a wholly owned investment management firm of Investment Planning Counsel Inc., and manages over $2.26 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31, 2007.