Products October 19, 2023

Investment Product & Service Launches

The Standard to roll out intellicents PEP; USAA introduces fixed-indexed annuity; SoFi Invest announces 1% IRA match; and more.

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The Standard to Roll Out Intellicents PEP

Advisory firm Intellicents Inc. has selected the Standard to roll out its intelli(k) pooled employer plan. The intelli(k) PEP offers a scalable solution for businesses with broad and flexible design capabilities.

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“The program is unique in that it’s packaged with intellisteps worksite financial planning for all participants, which aligns with improving the availability of quality, affordable retirement plans to American workers,” Steve Chappell, vice president of retirement plan distribution at the Standard, said in a statement.

The intelli(k) PEP handles both fiduciary and administrative responsibilities by removing the client from the role of plan sponsor. It bundles 3(38) investment governance and 3(16) administrative governance into a seamless packaged solution, allowing employers to upgrade offerings to employees while adding layers of fiduciary protection for the business.

“Whether you are an existing client or a prospect, have an existing plan or are starting a new plan, the intelli(k) PEP is a cost-effective, timesaving and results-oriented option for all plan sponsors to consider,” Grant Arends, co-founder and president of retirement services at Intellicents, said in a statement.


USAA Life Insurance Company Introduces Fixed-Indexed Annuity

USAA Life Insurance Co. announced the addition of a fixed-indexed annuity to its suite of retirement products. The new product is available in nearly all states and offers those planning for, or living in, retirement another option for protected savings growth.

USAA’s new annuity product can help grow retirement savings and create a guaranteed source of income in retirement by offering an interest rate based on the performance of the S&P 500, up to a certain limit, and principal protection in case of market fluctuations.

“Offering a highly competitive fixed indexed annuity product allows USAA to offer our members more choices in saving for retirement,” Bill White, senior vice president and general manager at USAA, said in a statement. “This product provides tax-deferred growth, with the potential to earn more than a traditional fixed annuity.”

USAA will host a free webinar to discuss fixed-indexed annuities as part of a retirement plan on October 25.


SoFi Invest Announces 1% IRA Match on IRA Contributions

SoFi announced SoFi Invest will offer a 1% match on all eligible IRA contributions.

The IRA Match is an extra 1% that SoFi adds to IRAs based on contributions. It does not count toward annual contribution limits, which for 2023 are $6,500 for people younger than 50, who can earn up to $65 extra. For people 50 and older, the limit is $7,500, which means they can earn up to $75 on top of their contributions.

SoFi members can earn the IRA Match on all new IRA contributions from outside accounts, as well as new contributions through ACH transfers.

SoFi Invest complements this new IRA 1% match with a full suite of investing tools and educational resources, including access to credentialed financial planners, career planners and award-winning investment tools such as SoFi Active Invest and SoFi Automated Investing.


Morgan Stanley Investment Management Expands ETF Platform With 5 Active ETFs

Morgan Stanley Investment Management announced the listing of five new exchange-traded funds on the NYSE Arca, a subsidiary of the NYSE Group Inc., which manages the New York Stock Exchange.

The latest additions to MSIM’s ETF platform are all actively managed and span asset classes with one Parametric-branded alternative income strategy, one Parametric-branded hedged equity strategy and three Eaton Vance-branded fixed-income strategies.

“Following the successful launch of MSIM’s ETF platform earlier this year, the new additions to the platform further capitalize on the deep experience of our investment teams and client-focused approach by delivering actively-managed strategies through the in-demand ETF structure,” Anthony Rochte, global head of ETFs at MSIM, said in a statement. “MSIM’s strategic vision for the ETF platform is to offer products across our businesses, asset classes, jurisdictions, and brands that address clients’ needs, and the Parametric and Eaton Vance strategies represent a significant step toward the realization of that goal.”

The five new ETFs advised by MSIM are:

  • Parametric Equity Premium Income ETF (PAPI)
  • Parametric Hedged Equity ETF (PHEQ)
  • Eaton Vance High Yield ETF (EVHY)
  • Eaton Vance Intermediate Municipal Income ETF (EVIM)
  • Eaton Vance Ultra-Short Income ETF (EVSB)
Administration October 19, 2023

What Can Plan Sponsors Do To Vet a Provider’s Cybersecurity Processes?

Speakers at PLANSPONSOR’s Cybersecurity livestream address vulnerabilities exposed by the MOVEit breach and offer tips on assessing partners’ defenses.

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How can asset owners, plan sponsors and plan advisers scope out the bona fides of cybersecurity vendors, whose expertise is key to protecting networks and other digital assets from breaches?

A panel at the “Vetting Providers’ Cybersecurity Processes” session of PLANSPONSOR’s livestream event October 12 offered tips to allocators, investment managers and others who want to protect themselves from the legions of hackers. It was moderated by Glenn Davis, deputy director of the Council of Institutional Investors.

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One vital tool, according to the panelists: audits of third-party providers done under the auspices of the Service Organization Control Type 2 (known as SOC 2) compliance framework, established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, designed to ensure the security of client data handled by third-party service providers.

The framework specifies how organizations should manage customer data. Further, speakers discussed the use of the SOC 2 Type 2 report, which outlines a company’s internal controls and details how well it safeguards customer data, specifically for cloud service providers. Specifically, a third-party audit can show if security protocols are safe and effective.

“This drives confidence and removes speculation” in the screening procedures of providers, advised Jon Atchison, senior lead of governance, risk and compliance at investment adviser firm CAPTRUST, .

As an example of what can go wrong, Atchison, one of the speakers on the livestream, pointed to one of the most recent large cybersecurity failures: the breach of MOVEit file transfer software, which affected sensitive personal data from governments and businesses and involved 3.4 million people. “MOVEit wasn’t the first and won’t be the last,” he said.

One task for providers is to guard against threats from employees and other insiders, said panelist Allison Itami, a principal in the Groom Law Group, whose ERISA practice focuses on data privacy and data security. These in-house folks can pose a risk of theft or fraud, she added. “As long as humans are involved,” cyber vulnerabilities will be around, Itami warned, and a lot is at stake. “If you lose money or have a data breach, trust is eroded.”

What’s vexing is that there is no absolute shield against cyber mischief. “No one can be 100% safe,” said panelist Mario Paez, national cyber risk leader at Marsh McLennan Agency, which sells insurance to organizations to protect against breach liabilities.

Some think that other business insurance, not tailored to digital crime, will be sufficient—and they are wrong, Paez said. Certainly, specialized cybersecurity policies are complex, “and the devil is in the details,” he admonished. For that reason, Paez continued, it pays to get a cybersecurity-savvy insurance broker to advise on what is best for a company’s particular needs.

Insurance must cover a range of necessities that can be created by a breach, he said, including extortion coverage in the case of a ransomware attack; business losses; the costs of notification to people affected by a breach; and forensic probes of how and why an incident occurred.

 

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