Products April 3, 2025

Product & Service Launches

Voya expands its target-date solutions with a CIT blend series; Congruent acquires IPX Retirement Edge; Vanguard launches a short-duration ETF; and more.

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Voya Expands TDF Solutions With CIT Blend Series

Voya Financial Inc. announced the launch of the MyCompass Target Date Blend Series, a series of collective investment trusts for which Great Gray Trust Co. LLC serves as trustee. The series is available across all plan sizes.

MyCompassBlend is sub-advised by flexPATH Strategies LLC, which serves as a fiduciary for the investment selection. Voya IM serves as the glide-path fiduciary to the series, leveraging its multi-manager, blended approach which uses both active and passive strategies.

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“With over 20 years of experience, Voya IM was an early pioneer of the blend, multi-manager target date approach,” said Barbara Reinhard, chief investment officer of multi-asset strategies and solutions at Voya Investment Management, in a statement. “The launch of MyCompass Blend leverages the investment capabilities of a number of top firms and, with its mix of both active and passive strategies, provides cost effective exposure to a range of asset classes.”

Congruent Acquires IPX Retirement Edge

Congruent Solutions Inc., a specialist technology partner to the U.S. retirement industry, announced the acquisition of IPX Retirement Edge, a platform for retirement income solutions, from IPX Retirement.

IPX Retirement Edge enables defined contribution retirement plans to offer in-plan guaranteed income investment options. It also supports participants with enrollment, education, investment selection, policy issuance, cashiering and statement reporting.

“IPX Retirement Edge is a transformative solution for annuity providers, sponsors, participants and recordkeepers looking to streamline the integration of guaranteed income options within 401(k) plans,” said Balaraman Jayaraman, Congruent’s CEO, co-founder and president. “IPX Retirement Edge removes the traditional barriers that have made in-plan annuities complex to administer by automating the entire process from participant education through policy management.”

Vanguard Launches Short-Duration ETF

Vanguard is expanding its active bond exchange-traded-fund suite with the launch of Vanguard Short Duration Bond ETF, an active fixed-income ETF managed by the Vanguard Fixed Income Group. VSDB is designed to provide clients with current income and lower price volatility consistent with short-duration bonds.

The short-duration ETF offers diversified exposure to primarily short-duration U.S. investment grade bonds—including structured products exposure, like asset-backed securities—with the flexibility to invest in below-investment-grade debt to seek additional yield.

The ETF is actively managed, enabling the portfolio managers to seek opportunities within their investable universe while “remaining highly risk aware.”

SEI Expands Direct-Index Equity SMA Options

SEI Investments Developments Inc. announced the expansion of its direct-index separately managed account strategies, as well as enhancements to its unified managed account solutions, to integrate these strategies into model portfolios constructed to better serve financial advisers and their clients with “sophisticated, scalable and tax-efficient” investment solutions.

The new strategies are designed to serve mass-affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth investors.

SEI also provides a personalized “Estimated Taxes Saved” report to advisers that includes client-specific information about estimated year-to-date taxes saved (or incurred) by performing active tax management.

Data and Research April 2, 2025

T. Rowe Price Finds Social Security Knowledge Gaps

Many workers do not understand the benefits of delaying their claim of Social Security benefits and ‘full retirement age.’

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Even though 50% of people aged at least 65 receive at least half of their income from Social Security, a recent T. Rowe Price survey found that many workers—young and old—lack a basic understanding of how the program works.

Along with releasing its survey results, T. Rowe Price also launched Social Security Analyzer, a tool designed for advisers that could be used to help educate their plan sponsor clients on Social Security claiming strategies.

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The vast majority (92%) of pre-retirees, aged at least 50, reported understanding that benefits are reduced if Social Security is claimed before reaching full retirement age, but only 62% understood the advantages of delaying claims beyond full retirement age.

In addition, 28% of those aged at least 62 mistakenly believed that Social Security benefits start automatically at age 65 if not claimed earlier. According to T. Rowe, this suggests that some workers are confusing Social Security’s full retirement age (which varies by birth year) and the Medicare eligibility age (65 for nearly everyone).

The full retirement age for Social Security benefits depends on one’s birth year, increasing gradually from 65 to 67 over a period of years. Those born in 1960 or later have a full retirement age of 67.

Many Younger Workers ‘Unaware’ of Key Details

Generation Z and Millennial workers answered fewer Social Security questions correctly in the survey. While more than 80% knew that Social Security is funded by payroll taxes and 73% understood the 10-year work requirement, T. Rowe found that many were unaware of key details. For example, a majority of workers younger than 50 did not know that benefits are adjusted for inflation, and two-thirds incorrectly believed that benefits start automatically at age 65 if not claimed earlier.

“This lack of understanding could cause them to overlook the positive impact these benefits can have on their long‑term retirement outlook and diminish their perceived value of the system as a whole,” the T. Rowe Price summary stated.

T. Rowe also found that although most respondents said they rely on their employer-sponsored retirement plans for advice, only 33% used retirement plan resources to learn about Social Security benefits.

Momentum Growing for Social Security Strategy

PGIM, in its latest “DC Landscape” survey, fielded in September and October 2024, also found that only 20% of plan sponsors currently offer a Social Security claiming tool for participants, but 43% reported they may consider adding one. The number of sponsors offering a Social Security strategy increased significantly from 13% in last year’s survey, suggesting there has been positive momentum over the last few years, according to David Blanchett, portfolio manager and head of retirement research at PGIM DC Solutions.

A concerning trend identified by T. Rowe Price came among respondents with household investable assets less than $50,000, as they were less likely to cite having any sources for Social Security information.

“Given that Social Security will likely make up a large portion of retirement income for this cohort, this lack of engagement is troubling,” the summary stated.

Survey respondents also expressed concerns about Social Security’s sustainability, as only 38% said they felt confident in the program’s ability to pay out currently anticipated benefits. This pessimism was particularly present among younger workers, with Gen Z workers saying they expect to receive only 53% of their currently scheduled benefits.

But on the positive side, the study found that only 10% of workers aged at least 50 intend to claim their benefits earlier than planned due to concerns about the system’s funding challenges. In fact, a greater percentage of individuals revealed that they would consider delaying their claims in response to these challenges, indicating a more measured approach to their retirement planning, T. Rowe found.

T. Rowe Expands Toolkit

T. Rowe’s new Social Security Analyzer tool is free to advisers and allows them to provide clients with side-by-side comparisons of various Social Security claiming strategies. The tool also includes evaluating spending needs against Social Security income; viewing lifetime, annual and monthly income; evaluating longevity risks with several life expectancy outlooks; and analyzing the impact of taxes, cost-of-living adjustments and inflation.

As a companion to the Social Security Analyzer, T. Rowe Price developed “The Power of Social Security,” intended to provide advisers with a range of educational content to help navigate the complexities of Social Security benefits with their clients. The resources include educational videos, presentations and white papers for advisers, as well as a library of presentations, workbooks and articles for clients.

The launch of Social Security Analyzer follows the 2024 launch of Social Security Optimizer, a tool specifically designed for T. Rowe Price individual investors and 401(k) plan participants.

 

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