A Fidelity survey shows sponsors also want lower fees, more retirement expertise and a better investment lineup.
Who deserves to service and monetize the participants? The answer to that is whoever works the hardest, within the limits of the law, in a professional, conflict-free manner.
Empower is already the second-biggest U.S. plan provider by number of participants, behind Fidelity. The deal will add $314 billion in assets among 4,300 plans, boosting Empower's size to $1.4 trillion among 71,000 plans.
Former Voya, Nuveen exec Mike De Feo will head the company’s new business line.
The latest cash influx adds to more than $42 million in prior funding rounds and seed capital. Vestwell will also be a retirement plan record keeper available through Morgan Stanley’s workplace business.
The pandemic has created concerns about retirement security among millennials and Gen Xers.
The acquisition will leave Empower with a $1.4 trillion defined-contribution business with about 71,000 plans.
The acquired business was the pension administration arm of Friedman, a New York-based CPA firm.
Even if participants are automatically enrolled, many said they would also like professional guidance, including advice that goes beyond saving for retirement, J.P. Morgan found in a recent survey.
Koch will pay $4 million in a case alleging excessive record-keeping fees, and Voya reached a confidential agreement in a separate lawsuit. Yum Brands was also sued by a participant who claims he was wrongly classified as an independent contractor and denied retirement benefits.
Given their limited savings, current low interest rates and the ongoing rise in prices and out-of-pocket health care costs, most boomers need a financial lifeline.
Policyholders saw an 85% bump in their premiums in 2015, despite assurances when they signed up that rates would not increase.
The training is designed to help retirement plan advisers evaluate environmental, social and governance investing opportunities.
Experts acknowledge the "Tower of Babel" criticism regarding ESG guidelines and nomenclature, but are concerned too much structure could be harmful.
Sales reps failed to disclose conflicts of interest when recommending rollovers from employer plans to higher-fee managed accounts that often had worse performance, regulators said.
Continued inflationary pressures could result in the largest cost-of-living increase in benefits since 1983.
The retirement plan provider created its managed account program in 2019.
More money flowed to equities than fixed income in the second quarter, according to data compiled by Alight Solutions.
The case for pooled employer plans is compelling, especially to address the fact that there are 5 million to 6 million companies in the U.S. and just 650,000 defined-contribution plans.
The political infighting won't affect the $1 trillion in benefits Social Security sends each year to 65 million Americans. But it will likely make it more difficult to begin work on a solution to the program's long-term financial challenges.
