Investing August 20, 2024

Voya Financial Surpasses $100B in Multiple Employer Solutions Assets

The firm saw a 15% increase in total assets, compared with the same period in 2023.

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Voya Financial Inc. has surpassed $100 billion in assets across its multiple employer solutions, which includes multiple employer plans, pooled employer plans, employer aggregation programs and other customized solutions. The figure marks a 15% increase in total assets compared with the same period last year, as the firm leans into pooled plan offerings. 

The announcement comes a few months after Voya announced it was expanding its team with newly created positions aimed at supporting MEP sales growth. These roles are focused on facilitating the development of new solutions and integrating adopting employers into existing ones for both advisers and plan sponsors. 

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“We see this marketplace continuing to grow, and our experience, breadth, and depth make Voya well-positioned to continue to capture a large share,” said Ginger Brennan, a senior vice president and head of ABA retirement funds and multiple employer solutions at Voya Financial, in a statement. 

Voya noted that it has seen growth within its wealth solutions business in part due to pooled plans, with 34% of employer-sponsored defined contribution plans now participating in a multiple employer plan solution.  

PEPs are the pooled plan newcomers, created in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019.  

Last year, Voya announced its role as the recordkeeper for the first 403(b) pooled employer plans, authorized via the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. This plan provides a pooled option for IRS-designated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and health-care-related entities, expanding retirement plan access for employees in these sectors. 

According to PLANSPONSOR’s 2024 Recordkeeping Survey, Voya Financial has the most assets in pooled employer plans with $2.02 billion, followed by Principal Financial Group with $1.7 billion and Transamerica with $1.58 billion. 

In the multiple employer plan category, Transamerica ranked first with $20.145 billion in assets, ahead of Principal Financial Group at $17.72 billion and Voya at $13.51 billion. 

Voya ranked second among recordkeepers by pooled employer or multiple employer 401(k) participants. Principal Financial Group led the ranking with 594,756 participants, followed by Voya Financial with 261,962 and Empower with 248,355. 

Voya did not immediately provide a breakdown of the $100 billion in assets. PLANSPONSOR does not track employer aggregation programs and customized solutions that would make up the remainder of the assets. 

“We look forward to the opportunities ahead as we continue to focus on executing our strategy and supporting retirement plan sponsors and advisers in guiding employees toward solutions that foster greater outcomes for all,” said Brennan in the announcement. 

Benefits August 20, 2024

Commonwealth Launches Financial Well-Being Program With $7M From JPMorgan

The bank committed $7 million to fund a three-year program in which the nonprofit will provide benefits to low- and moderate-income workers.

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Commonwealth, a nonprofit focused on building financial security, announced Tuesday a $7 million commitment from JPMorganChase to launch a three-year national project aimed at providing financial education and services to low- and moderate-income workers at participating employers.

According to the announcement, JPMorgan has committed the funds to develop an initiative, Benefits for the Future, trying to address the financial well-being of low- and moderate-income workers, which it notes are disproportionately made up of Black, Latinx and women-led households.

The program will offer financial services to benefits providers and employers with “significant” employee bases earning low and moderate income, defined as less than 80% of the median family income in their area. By participating in the program, the organizations will “design, test, and scale quality benefits for their employees, choosing from a variety of solutions, including debt reduction, workplace savings, and wealth-building strategies.”

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Commonwealth will be starting the project in Chicago and in Columbus, Ohio, before taking it to other markets. It will also leverage the data, insights and positive results from the pilot programs to be “amplified to influence industry best practices and policy.”

Commonwealth identified the program’s audience s employers with more than 20,000 U.S.-based employees who make less than $75,000 per year; they must also be committed to sharing insights, data and broader findings. The money from JPMorgan will fund the program for three years and should reach 2.5 million workers nationally, according to the announcement.

Commonwealth hopes to work with more than a dozen employers, though the final number may depend on the size and scope of the partnerships, according to Vice President Brian Gilmore.

“Existing Commonwealth staff, with expertise in consumer research, behaviorally informed design, workplace benefits, program evaluation, and communications, will be working with employers to implement programs and projects as part of the initiative,” Gilmore says via email.

Those services will include advice on workplace financial benefit best practices; research and data to inform, co-create and structure benefits, incentives and outreach strategies; implementing the enhanced workplace benefits strategy; and help identifying any adjustments to the programs.

The pilot program’s benefit focus areas include:

  • Debt reduction (student loan, medical and consumer);
  • Retirement;
  • Workplace savings;
  • Child care costs;
  • Home ownership;
  • Long-term health care; and
  • Wealth and asset building.

The financial services being offered to participating organizations were also touted by Commonwealth as helping “improve employee financial health, while delivering positive business outcomes such as increased worker productivity, engagement and retention.”

The nonprofit cited research from Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting noting that financial stress, even among those making at least $100,000 a year, can lead to lower productivity, “weakened” company culture and delayed retirement. Meanwhile, it cited Financial Health Network findings that fewer than one-third of workers have access to benefits that help them with financial needs.

JPMorgan’s funding is part of the firm’s work to “improve financial health outcomes for employees,” both at its own firm and among other employees, according to the announcement.

Commonwealth offers organizations the chance to set up a call to discuss the program on its website.

Commonwealth was founded in the late 1990s with the goal of reducing the cost to serve working families with new financial products, services and policies; the organization works with employers, financial services firms, recordkeepers, payroll and other workplace solutions providers.

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