Products January 25, 2019

Voya Launches Health Savings and Spending Account Solutions

Voya health savings account (HSA) account holders with $2,000 or more in their HSA may choose to actively manage their account and select their investment options within their HSA.

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Voya Financial, Inc. launched a new suite of health savings and spending account solutions as benefits for employers to offer their employees.

The suite of solutions will initially include the following tax-advantaged accounts: a health savings account (HSA) to be used in combination with high deductible health plans (HDHPs); a health flexible spending account (health FSA); a limited purpose FSA; a dependent care FSA; and a commuter benefit account.

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Key features of Voya’s solutions include:

  • Easy access to accounts: Employees can access and manage all of their Voya health savings and spending accounts—when, where and how they need to—through one user-friendly web portal or mobile app;
  • One debit card to manage all accounts: Account holders only need one debit card to access funds from any of their accounts to pay qualified expenses; and
  • Employer flexibility: Access one administration portal to review reports and activity on all of their Voya health savings and spending accounts.

In addition, HSA account holders with $2,000 or more in their HSA may choose to actively manage their account and select their investment options within their HSA. For the Voya HSA, Voya Investment Management is providing manager selection and oversight and has constructed the HSA investment menu that includes a mix of funds managed by Voya Investment Management as well as other well-regarded managers.

“Our new suite of savings and spending accounts will give employees even more tools to help them realize their financial goals, offering options for handling unexpected health care costs without dipping into their retirement savings,” says Rob Grubka, president, Voya Employee Benefits. “And we are giving employers the flexibility to choose what best fits their benefits portfolios and the ability to meet the needs of their employees.”
Data and Research January 25, 2019

Survey Suggests Pension Risk Transfer Activity Will Increase in 2019

Sixty-seven percent of defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors polled say they will conduct an annuity buyout to de-risk, and the majority of them have already taken actions to prepare.

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While 2018 was another robust year for pension risk transfer (PRT), plan sponsors plan to increase their PRT efforts in 2019, a new poll of defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors by MetLife found.

According to the 2019 Pension Risk Transfer Poll, among DB plan sponsors with de-risking goals, 76% intend to completely divest all of their company’s liabilities at some point in the future.

“The poll findings indicate a trend in increased risk transfer activity as we anticipate plan sponsors will want to proactively deal with the cost and volatility of their plans,” says Wayne Daniel, senior vice president and head of U.S. pensions at MetLife. “As a result, many will begin to look more closely at the $3 trillion of DB plan liabilities that have not yet been de-risked and begin to evaluate how they can address this.”

Among the 67% of DB sponsors considering a risk transfer in the next two years, 77% have evaluated the financial impact of such a transfer, 74% have held discussions with key stakeholders, 65% reviewed and cleaned up their data, 59% have explored the solutions in the marketplace and/or quantified the cost of a pension risk transfer.

The majority, 79%, say they are more likely to consider an annuity buyout now that they have witnessed several large corporations taking this action. Sixty-seven percent say they will conduct an annuity buyout to de-risk, up from 57% in 2017 and 46% since 2015.

Fifty-four percent intend to tranche transactions by participant population. Retirees are identified as the most common population for which sponsors are considering purchasing annuities (54%), followed by terminated-vested participants (43%). Only one in three (30%) say they would secure a buyout for all participants.

Strategic Insight, parent company of PLANSPONSOR, conducted the survey for MetLife along with MMR Research Associates, in August and September. The full survey results may be downloaded from here.

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