Product & Service Launches

Milliman Introduces Candidly Student Loan Certification for Retirement Plans

Milliman Inc. announced the introduction of a student loan certification solution for its 401(k) recordkeeping clients through Candidly.

The solution allows defined contribution plan sponsors to provide matching contributions based on participants’ qualified student loan payments. Through the collaboration, Candidly enables participant certification of qualified student loan payments, while Milliman calculates the match and fulfills the contributions based on the certified loan payments.

Participants can self-certify their student loans on Candidly’s platform, which offers support in planning and paying for college, repaying student debt and preparing for retirement.

Capital Group Launches Active/Passive TDF Blend Series

The Capital Group Companies Inc. launched its first target-date-fund series that includes both active and passive management strategies.

The TDF series combines the firm’s active management strategy with select passive indexing from BlackRock Inc. and State Street Global Advisors. As the glide path manager, Capital Group selects the passive exposures and manages the allocations with a mix of BlackRock and State Street options.

According to the firm, the new TDFs are structured as collective investment trusts and are intended for larger retirement plans.

Arete Wealth, Luma Elevate Structured Products and Annuities

Arete Wealth Management LLC, a broker/dealer and registered investment advisory firm, announced it is partnering with Luma Financial Technologies, an alternative investment platform. Arete Wealth plans to leverage Luma’s platform to streamline the process of buying and managing structured products and annuities for its clients.

Luma’s platform first emerged in 2018 to serve the structured product market and extended into the annuity industry in February 2021.

“Our goal is to enhance access and transparency in the alternative investment space, empowering advisers with the tools necessary to better understand, objectively analyze, purchase, and manage products on behalf of their clients,” stated Donald Pogan, chief product officer at Luma, in an announcement.

Venerable Investment Advisers Launches Mutual Fund Lineup

Venerable Investment Advisers announced the launch of an initial lineup of mutual funds comprised of approximately $9.9 billion in assets under management.

The mutual funds serve as investment options for insurance company separate accounts and bring the management of the mutual funds underlying Venerable Insurance and Annuity Co.’s variable annuity business in-house.

“This is an important milestone in the standup of our investment adviser, and we are grateful for the partnership of Russell Investments and Franklin Templeton along the way,” said Tim Brown, president of Venerable Advisers, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our focus on optimizing our business and growing our AUM in future fund launches.”