Products August 24, 2023

Investment Product and Service Launches

Snappy Kraken introduces AI email builder; American Life & Security Corp. launch annuity product; Vanguard expands active lineup; and more.

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Snappy Kraken Introduces AI Email Builder

Snappy Kraken announced the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered email builder for advisers with the goal of cutting down on the time and effort of sending personalized client emails.

The new offering uses AI-driven technology to provide a drag-and-drop email builder through which advisers can craft more engaging email text and headlines. The email builder can also generate personalized images and includes smart buttons to drive adviser conversions, according to the announcement.

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“Our AI-powered email builder functions like a highly energized professional writer, marketer and designer, minus the accompanying overhead,” Angel Gonzalez, Snappy Kraken’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “With our new email builder, advisers can go from idea to finished email in mere minutes.”

Snappy Kraken’s product leverages insights from sending more than 100 million emails on behalf of advisers, according to the firm.

American Life & Security Corp Announce New Annuity Product

American Life & Security Corp., a subsidiary of Midwest Holding Inc., has announced a new annuity product called American Fusion.

The product, distributed by American Life’s IMO partners, combines key characteristics of a Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity and a Fixed Index Annuity with the goal of providing a guaranteed rate for five years, with potential to participate in market growth without downside exposure, according to the announcement.

“Fusion combines a competitive full-term guaranteed rate with a strong performance threshold rate that can help meet the needs of pre-retirees and retirees of all ages,” Tom Bumbolow, head of distribution and business development, said in a statement.

American Fusion policyholders can take a required minimum distribution starting in the second contract year without a penalty. If any withdrawals are taken except RMDs starting in year two, the contract will be ineligible for a bonus interest credit.

American Fusion is approved for sale in 21 states and the District of Columbia: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Approval is pending in the remaining 4 states of the company’s current footprint, according to the announcement.

Vanguard to Expand Active Lineup with International Dividend Growth Fund

Vanguard announced plans to launch Vanguard International Dividend Growth Fund, an actively managed equity designed to compound wealth over the long term by investing in international companies with sustainably growing dividends

The International Dividend Growth Fund’s portfolio manager will construct a portfolio of companies with strong balance sheets and high, sustainable free cash flows, according to Vanguard. The fund will seek to invest in companies that can withstand the ups and downs of the business cycle, with an emphasis on market resilience in all environments.

“Investors can use the International Dividend Growth Fund as a meaningful component of their international equity holdings, and it can be paired with the U.S.-focused Dividend Growth Fund to build a globally diversified, actively managed equity allocation,” Dan Reyes, global head of the portfolio review department at Vanguard, said in a statement.

The fund will be managed by the investment team from Wellington Management Company LLP that is behind the Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund.

The fund is expected to be available for investment in the fourth quarter of 2023 with an expense ratio of 0.54%. It will have a single share class with a minimum initial investment of $3,000, according to the announcement

CreativeOne and RISA Enhance Retirement Income Planning

CreativeOne announced a new strategic partnership with RISA, the Retirement Income Style Awareness profile run by retirement income experts Wade Pfau and Alex Murguia.

CreativeOne’s financial advisers will have access to the RISA platform to survey clients’ retirement income preferences. The RISA profile will then provide advisers with actionable data to implement targeted retirement income strategies.

“By identifying individual retirement income preferences, CreativeOne’s advisers will be better equipped to tailor retirement strategies to each client’s unique needs,” Alex Murguia, co-founder of RISA, said in a statement.

“CreativeOne’s commitment to creating meaningful, personal relationships aligns perfectly with the RISA’s goal of empowering financial advisors with the insights they need to make the most informed decisions for their clients’ retirement income planning,” Mike Miller, president, partner, and CEO of CreativeOne, said in a statement.

Benefits August 24, 2023

Delta’s Emergency Savings Program Shows Retirement Security Dividends

Airline employees enrolled in an emergency savings program have also increased their 401(k) contributions.

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Delta Air Lines has enhanced an emergency savings program for eligible employees, reducing the requirements enrolled workers must meet to earn up to $1,000 to seed an emergency savings account.

The emergency savings program—launched in January—was enhanced in the second quarter to provide greater flexibility, explains Josh Jessup, Delta’s general manager of human resources.

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Changes to the program were approved during a mid-February presentation on the program to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, adds Jessup.

“Ed said, ‘We need to make the incentives available more quickly in the process,’” Jessup says. “The original design was three education segments that were each followed by a coaching session: education, coaching, education, coaching, education, coaching. Ed said, ‘That’s too much. We need to be able to get the incentive sooner.’”

In response, Jessup says, Delta “made some changes to front-load a little bit more education before the very first coaching session, and we made it so employees could receive their incentive after their first coaching session, instead of the three coaching sessions that are formally part of the program.”

The revisions also enabled Delta to “to try and streamline and simplify processes for employees a little bit,” he adds. The incentive is a $750 emergency savings contribution from the company.

Participants who contribute at least $250 in payroll deductions to their emergency savings account prior to completing the coaching requirement now have expedited access to both the $750 incentive and a $250 company match.

Delta designed and launched the program to provide a means for workers to save for financial emergencies, but also to improve workers’ retirement security.

“The educational aspects of this program are certainly having an impact, and that aligns with feedback that we’re getting from our employees as well,” Jessup says.

Several studies have shown a connection between workers’ retirement savings and access to emergency savings accounts. Employees with access to an emergency savings program are less likely to tap their 401(k) or retirement savings when they have a pressing or sudden financial need, according to research from Commonwealth and the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.

“This can influence other financial areas like our 401(k) contributions in general and the number of people who would take loans [from the plan],” says Jessup. “Already we’ve seen great impact on employee contributions to their 401(k): … [more participants] in the program … have increased their 401(k) contributions than those who have not participated.”

Delta found that enrolled participants have increased their 401(k) deferrals: 23% of employees who completed the program have increased their 401(k) contribution percentage, as compared with just 10% of those who have not engaged in the program, according to a Delta representative.

Delta is now considering where in its workforce the program can be targeted to specific employee populations that may not participate at the same level as other cohorts, adds Jessup. Lower-wage employees will not be specifically targeted, he adds.

“We don’t see the emergency savings as an issue [solely] for lower-paid [workers],” Jessup says. “We see people who are [living] paycheck to paycheck at all levels of compensation.”

More than 45,000 workers have enrolled in the emergency savings program since it launched in January, 10s of millions of dollars have been contributed by enrolled participants and Delta has contributed more than $15 million through incentives, as of August 21, says Jessup.

“Our reservations division is an area where we have a high volume of newer employees and [an] area where we want to make sure that we’re making sure [workers are] familiar with our programs,” he says.

Delta hoped to achieve close to 20% participation in the program and for half of that group to receive the full $1,000 from the incentive and company match, he explains. “To date, we’ve had more like 45% of the population that has participated and, so far this year, 13% has earned the full $1,000, [and] about 15% has earned the $750.”

The emergency savings program is available to all U.S. employees below the director level—with at least six months of Delta service—including pilots. Participants can choose from three paths, based on their personal goals and finances, followed by individual coaching sessions from Fidelity Investments or Operation HOPE.

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