Products September 14, 2022

Voya Launches Workplace Benefits and Financial Guidance App

The new digital platform will use data-driven insights to provide personalized guidance to help individuals achieve their financial goals.

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Voya Financial has announced the launch of myVoyage, a personalized financial guidance and workplace benefits digital platform. The platform seeks to provide individuals with a complete view of their financial picture, including workplace benefits and savings accounts and external accounts such as personal banking and credit accounts, to help them manage their health and financial well-being.

A Voya study found that more than half (56%) of employed Americans surveyed are extremely or very interested in a “one-stop” mobile app that provides a consolidated view of all of their health and financial accounts. And, according to Voya’s own retirement plan participant database, there were more than 101 million digital interactions reported in 2021 alone, suggesting an opportunity for greater digital engagement solutions.

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In addition to a consolidated account view under one login, myVoyage will offer individuals:

  • Holistic financial wellness support, including the opportunity to view where they stand across all accounts and to set and track goals (such as saving for college or paying off debt), as well as spending limits, savings reminders and deposit summaries;
  • Benefits enrollment guidance, leveraging Voya’s myHealth&Wealth experience, that can help individuals optimize workplace benefits options and costs and can offer personalized guidance on savings and coverage based on plans that are most appropriate for their needs;
  • Access to medical claims to track out-of-pocket expenses and get reminders for preventative care;
  • Personalized nudges and actions, including specific steps, tools and resources to help individuals navigate different life stages and events; and
  • Professional resources, including the ability to refer individuals to a financial professional for additional personalized advice and guidance.

The launch of myVoyage builds on Voya’s recent introduction of its myHealth&Wealth integrated and holistic benefits selection experience, which offers personalized digital guidance to help employees optimize their household spending across health insurance benefits, emergency savings and saving for retirement, according to the company. 

Deals and People September 14, 2022

IBM Completes $16 Billion Pension Risk Transfer

Responsibility for 100,000 beneficiaries moving to Prudential, MetLife

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IBM reported in an SEC filing on September 13 that it has transferred $16 billion worth of defined benefit pension plan obligations to Prudential and MetLife in one of the biggest pension risk transfer deals ever.

“The overall funded status of the plan makes the transfer of a portion of the pension liabilities and assets to an insurance company a logical next step to further de-risk retirement-related plans,” a statement from IBM says. The company’s pension plan had a funded level of 112% as of the end of 2021.

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The deal is worth nearly three times the record $5.5 billion worth of pension risk transfer volume recorded during the first quarter of the year, according to a report by Legal & General.

Under the separate agreements, IBM bought group annuity contracts covering approximately 100,000 participants and beneficiaries to transfer to Prudential and MetLife approximately $16 billion of the company’s pension plan obligations related to certain benefits that began before 2016. The amount represents more than 40% of the plan’s obligations. The insurance companies will evenly divide the responsibility to pay the pension benefits due on or after January 1, 2023, with Prudential as the lead administrator.

The IBM statement says the company expects to incur a non-operating, non-cash, pre-tax charge of approximately $5.9 billion during the third quarter related to the accelerated recognition of actuarial losses for the pension plan.

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