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The nation’s second-largest retirement plan recordkeeper announced Tuesday that it’s made a change to its public-facing brand name, moving from “Empower Retirement” to just “Empower,” effective immediately.
The company says the change reflects its broadening stature and rapid growth.
As people begin to look at saving for retirement and determining how much they need to save, they make those decisions while keeping their current financial wellness in mind, Steve Jenks, Empower chief marketing officer, tells PLANADVISER. A big part of what the company does is help people achieve their short- and long-term financial goals, he says, and the name update to Empower helps capture that.
Transitioning to Empower and eliminating “Retirement” is a strategic decision meant to elevate the firm’s brand as it continues to develop its offerings, Jenks adds. He expects the name change will help increase the firm’s visibility among individual investors and demonstrate its expanding focus on financial wellness solutions. Notably, since the brand’s inception in 2014, Empower has often used the shorter name in advertising, marketing and some public communications.
Context for the name change comes from Empower’s 2020 acquisition of Personal Capital, a wealth manager offering advice through both in-person and digital interfaces. Additionally, the firm acquired the MassMutual retirement business in 2020 and announced its intention last year to purchase the full-service retirement business of Prudential Financial Inc.
Together, those transactions were expected to increase Empower’s participant base to some 16.6 million people and its retirement services recordkeeping assets to approximately $1.4 trillion administered on behalf of approximately 71,000 workplace savings plans.
Jenks points to the recently enhanced Empower participant website as an example of how the firm is doubling down on both short-term and long-term services for its clients. The website features a highly personalized digital experience that can integrate multiple elements of an individual’s financial picture to help them better understand their current situation and future needs, driving increased financial confidence.
Moving forward, Empower will be the public-facing name of the company, and the Empower Retirement LLC name will remain the name of the underlying legal entity, in order to maintain consistency of existing contracts and agreements.
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