Products March 27, 2025

Product and Service Launches

Financial Finesse and SecureSave announce partnership;  Lincoln Financial expands solutions available in WellnessPATH Marketplace; Pharmacy benefits manager offers “Savings Guarantee,” and more. 

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Financial Finesse and SecureSave Announce Partnership

Financial coaching firm Financial Finesse has partnered with workplace emergency savings account provider SecureSave to create an integrated solutions for employers, the companies said.

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The integration means there is a SecureSave page within Financial Finesse’s employee Financial Wellness Hub, enabling users to seamlessly sign up for an ESA and view their savings progress in real time. There is also direct access to Financial Finesse, including one-on-one financial coaching, within SecureSave to provide support at key decision points.

The companies are offering joint communications to drive program awareness and engagement and are offering employers the ability to offer incentives, so employees can earn ESA contributions as a reward for taking specific actions to improve their overall financial wellness.

The solution, which launched with a Fortune 500 healthcare company in December, has proven to be effective at reaching demographics with traditionally lower levels of financial security, including women and employees of color, the companies said.

Lincoln Financial Expands Solutions Available in WellnessPATH Marketplace

Lincoln announced expansion of the solutions available through its flexible wellness program, WellnessPATH® Marketplace. The program now offers 10 solutions: Student loan support resources; emergency savings account solutions; tax preparation discounts; home, auto and renters’ insurance; pet insurance; 529 college savings plan finder; estate planning support; debt management; and homebuying support.

Within the marketplace, employees can also access information and education they need to create a personalized journey toward improving their financial wellbeing at every stage of life, from entering the work force, buying a home and nearing retirement, the company said.

The company also announced that, in partnership with Candidly, employees can access student-loan support solutions and an emergency savings account. Employers have the option to make contributions directly to employee’s student loan repayment and to emergency savings accounts.

Pharmacy Benefits Manager Offers “Savings Guarantee”

EmpiRx Health, a pharmacist-led pharmacy benefits manager, is offering what it says is an industry-first “clinical savings guarantee” that quantifies the savings clients will receive.

If EmpiRx does not meet the agreed-upon savings determined during the contracting phase, it says it will reimburse clients dollar-for-dollar. The company says it can identify client opportunities for savings using its Population Health Engine; pharmacists then use the EmpiRx Health Clinical Savings Tracker to track and verify the client’s savings and present auditable results on a regular basis. Savings are calculated in a contract year and reset annually.

“Not only does EmpiRx Health’s model save benefits plan sponsors money, but it also helps reduce costs for patients,” the company said in an email.

Allspring Introduces Two Active Equity ETFs

Allspring Global Investments, introduced two active equity exchange-traded funds: the Allspring LT Large Growth ETF and Allspring Special Large Value ETF , both trading on the NYSE Arca.

Allspring LT Large Growth ETF, managed by Neville Javeri, Jake Seltz, and Paul Roach, is based on a high-conviction large-cap growth U.S. equity strategy that, until now, was not widely available directly to individual retail investors.

Allspring Special Large Value ETF follows a value investing strategy that is led by Bryant VanCronkhite and James Tringas, co-heads of the Special Global Equity team, who use an investment approach focused on identifying companies with proven management and flexible balance sheets.

These are Allspring’s first actively managed equity ETFs, and both have an expense ratio of 0.35%; in December Allspring launched three actively managed fixed income ETFs.

T. Rowe Price Adds Two Active Equity ETFs to Roster

T. Rowe Price debuted the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Premium Income ETF and T. Rowe Price Hedged Equity ETF , active transparent equity exchange-traded funds. With these funds trading on the NYSE Arca, T. Rowe Price now has 19 active ETFs.

T. Rowe Price Hedged Equity ETF, managed by Sean McWilliams, seeks to provide long-term capital growth and normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in equities, the company said.
The fund, with an expense ratio of 0.46%, combines the firm’s U.S. Structured Research Equity Strategy with lower volatility individual equities and a derivatives hedging strategy designed to reduce portfolio volatility, especially during equity market downturns.

T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Premium Income ETF, co-managed by six investment professionals from T. Rowe Price Investment Management, is a low-volatility portfolio of high-quality stocks and covered calls, optimized to maximize income, preserve principal and limit losses. The company said the fund is the second ETF in the Capital Appreciation suite and has an expense ratio of 0.34%.
Benefits March 27, 2025

Social Security Administration Clarifies Identity Proofing Requirements

The SSA extended, for two weeks, the launch of new identity-proofing requirements and made an exception for those applying for certain services.

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The Social Security Administration has updated its recently announced identity proofing requirements, in an effort to clarify which of its services will require in-person or online registration. The SSA has said the new requirements are intended to prevent fraudulent claims.

Under the updated policy, now slated to take effect April 14, 2025, individuals applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare or Supplementary Security Income who cannot use their personal “my Social Security” account online can complete their claim entirely over the telephone, without the need to come into an office.

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Last week, the SSA said, starting March 31, it would require all individuals signing up for Social Security benefits to visit a field office or use the internet and not allow them to do so over the phone. The policy’s effective date is now extended two weeks and makes an exception for those applying for SSDI, Medicare or SSI.

“We have listened to our customers, Congress, advocates, and others, and we are updating our policy to provide better customer service to the country’s most vulnerable populations,” said Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, in a statement.

Individuals who cannot use their personal online my Social Security account to apply for benefits will only need to provide proof of their identity at a Social Security office if applying for Retirement, Survivors or Auxiliary (spouse or child) benefits. The SSA said it will enforce online digital identity proofing or in-person identity proofing for these cases.

“The agency will not enforce these requirements in extreme dire-need situations, such as terminal cases or prisoner pre-release scenarios,” the announcement said. “SSA is currently developing a process that will require documentation and management approval to bypass the policy in such dire need cases.”

In addition, individuals who do not, or cannot, use the online service to change their direct deposit information for any benefit will need to visit a field office to process the change or can call 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an in-person appointment.

The SSA also plans to implement the Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service’s payment integrity service called Account Verification Service, which provides instant bank verification services to prevent fraud associated with direct deposit change requests, according to the announcement.

The SSA recently required nearly all agency employees to work in the office five days a week, which the agency claims will ensure maximum staffing is available to support the identity-proofing requirement. However, President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Service Temporary Organization published a list of 47 SSA offices that are slated to close either this year or in the near future.

The agency also announced in February that it aims to lay off at least 7,000 people as part of the president’s effort to downsize the federal government.

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