Products & Services April 4, 2025

Product and Service Launches – 4/4/25

Voya expands TDF solutions with CIT blend series; SMArtX launches BlackRock's Advisor Center on platform; CAIS introduces alternative investments models marketplace for advisers; and more.

Reported by

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.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

“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.”

SMArtX Launches BlackRock’s Advisor Center on Platform

SMArtX Advisory Solutions has integrated BlackRock’s Advisor Center, powered by Aladdin technology, into its platform for asset managers and advisers with aims to improve portfolio transparency, client engagement, and investment making decisions.

The launch of Advisor Center within the SMArtX UMA trading platform “creates a more comprehensive experience for users and enables them to better analyze portfolios from a performance, risk, and cost perspective,” the company said. The partnership will offer premier risk and performance analysis, a tax evaluator, and investment solutions including BlackRock and third-party asset manager models.

“We are excited to collaborate with BlackRock to offer Advisor Center,” said Brad Haag, EVP of Asset Manager Solutions, in a statement. “This is a win for qualifying asset managers by expanding distribution opportunities while equipping advisers with deeper risk and tax insights to strengthen portfolio management.”

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.”

CAIS Launches Alternative Investments Models Marketplace for Advisers

CAIS, an alternative investment platform for financial advisers, introduced  a centralized hub developed to streamline access to multi-asset and multi-manager alternative investment model portfolios called CAIS Models Marketplace.

CAIS Models Marketplace will enabling advisers to more efficiently allocate to private markets and hedge funds. It will offer three multi-asset and multi-manager model portfolio configurations, enabling advisors to allocate seamlessly through CAIS’ trade technology: wealth management firm model portfolios; asset manager model portfolios, from Ares Management, BlackRock, Blue Owl, Carlyle, Franklin Templeton, and KKR, with plans to expand the Models Marketplace over time by adding more managers; and models from CAIS Advisors.

“Designing, implementing, and managing portfolios that include alternatives has historically been a time-intensive and complex process,” said Neil Blundell, Chief Investment Officer at CAIS Advisors and Head of Investments at CAIS. “We are thrilled to enhance our platform capabilities to help with these challenges and provide financial advisers another pathway to integrate alternatives with a suite of alternative investment model portfolios.”

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 & Research April 4, 2025

Financial Professional Usage Increasing, Digital Advice Leveling Off

Two-thirds of households plan to continue saving more, particularly in taxable and retirement accounts.

Reported by

In the past year, 79% of households have taken a saving or investing action, with the most common being reducing spending (50%), increasing retirement savings (29%), saving more generally in accounts (25%), and creating an emergency fund (24%), according to a new report from Hearts & Wallets.

Additionally, 27% have purchased life insurance, according to “Advice, Technology & Actions: Engagement with Human and Digital Influences and the Connection to Outcomes,” a report from Hearts & Wallets, based on 6000 households. Looking ahead, two-thirds of households plan to continue saving more, particularly in taxable and retirement accounts.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Advice Gap on Saving

However, Americans focused on saving may not get help with current advice offerings. The Hearts & Wallets report reveals that advice on how to allocate saving is rare in current advice experiences. Most (67%) advice experiences do not address allocation of new saving across account types.

“Firms can differentiate competitively with saving and other advice that aligns with consumer demand,” Laura Varas, CEO and founder of Hearts & Wallets, said. “How to allocate saving across account types is a complex decision that balances liquidity spending needs and current taxes with serious long-term tax implications.”

In-Person Usage Up, Digital Advice Plateaus

Two primary sources dominate the report results as Americans’ “go-to” for financial support. The top source is the individual or their spouse/partner, accounting for 47% of households. The second most common source is financial professionals, serving 25% of households. The use of financial professionals as a primary resource has risen by 4%, up from 21% in 2012.

Paid investment professionals are particularly prominent, being twice as likely to be the go-to source compared to other financial professionals. Specifically, those paid a flat fee or a percentage of investment assets are more commonly relied upon than brokers or registered investment advisers. Employer-sponsored programs are down 3% and the biggest year-over-year pullbacks in use occurred in statements, down 4%.

The use of digital advice tools is leveling off. About 60% of households have been relying on online sources for investment information and advice for the past three years. In 2024, for the first time, more people are using mobile devices than computers for online activities. Around 19% of households now use planning tools only on mobile. However, research shows that mobile devices often struggle to explain complex topics or calculations clearly.

«