Deals & People October 30, 2014

Great-West Rebrands Retirement Businesses as Empower

Great-West Financial has introduced Empower, a new retirement services company.
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The retirement plan services businesses of Great-West Financial take the name “Empower,” effective immediately. The new brand is presented to participants through www.empower-retirement.com. Empower is now the second largest retirement services provider in the U.S. market, with nearly 7 million defined contribution participants and more than $400 billion in plan assets, according to Great-West. 

In an interview with PLANADVISER, Robert Reynolds, president and chief executive officer of Great-West Lifeco U.S., and Edmund F. Murphy III, president of Empower, said their vision for the new brand is to make sure plan sponsors and their participants are “engaged in their retirement plans like never before.”

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“The brand is different and action oriented,” said Murphy. “It signifies our commitment to lifetime income and reflects the spirit of innovation.”

“We think this name signifies how people are going to think about retirement,” said Murphy. Retirement transcends the employee, he noted, saying the new brand reflects the four key stakeholders—retirement plan participants, retirement plan sponsors, retirement plan advisers and consultants—and the fact that there is “an element of empowerment in the way each interfaces with the plan and participant.”

Establishing the Empower brand will involve combining the expertise and client service infrastructure of multiple entities now under the ownership of Great-West, including Great-West Financial Retirement Plan Services, formerly J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services. There will be a strong focus on delivering retirement income solutions across all market segments served by the unified retirement services organization.

Here’s a quick reminder of how Empower came into being:

Great-West says the integration will allow Empower to serve all segments of the employer-sponsored retirement plan market—small, midsize, and large corporate 401(k) clients, government 457 plans and non-profit 403(b) entities, as well as private label recordkeeping clients. Reynolds said there will not be an impact on the firm’s private label recordkeeping segments, which will be kept labeled FASCore.

Murphy and Reynolds suggested financial advisers and consultants will be able to expect a range of unique tools and services from Empower, especially in the area of retirement income. For their part, plan sponsors and their employees will benefit from a highly customized, intuitive experience designed to help them reach retirement preparedness, Murphy emphasized.

“Our value proposition in the marketplace is that we will bring all of our resources to bear to help advisers, consultants, plan sponsors and their employees think about retirement in new ways and empower them with a series of forward-thinking resources, information and intuitive tools to achieve higher levels of success,” Murphy added. He pointed out that the Empower logo includes an iconic flowing flag that represents the firm’s focus on serving the dynamic retirement needs of Americans.

According to Murphy, clients and the broader marketplace will begin to see the Empower name through a range of direct communications, web presence, social media and print and online advertising. As explained by Great-West leadership, under Empower, the Putnam plan sponsor and participant experience will be used across the organization; along with individualized communications capabilities from J.P. Morgan. The platform and reporting infrastructure at Great-West is going to be used underneath all the offerings.

Although the Putnam and Great-West plans are already using the Great-West platform, former J.P. Morgan clients’ plans are going through a conversion to the new system, which Reynolds said will be a 24-month project. Those clients will have more than just a conversion, it is a “systems upgrade” he said. Doing this very thoughtfully is key because the firm “wants to make sure their experience is greatly enhanced once the integration takes place.”

Data & Research October 29, 2014

TIAA-CREF Underscores Importance of Advice

A new TIAA-CREF survey shows that 63% of women who have received professional financial advice say they feel confident about their personal retirement readiness.
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The annual Advice Matters Survey reveals that while women continue to report lower rates of confidence in their retirement readiness compared with men (56% vs. 63%), receiving financial advice can help eliminate the gender gap. In addition to feeling more confident, 81% of women who receive financial advice say they feel informed about retirement planning and retirement savings, compared with 63% who have not received advice.

After receiving financial advice, women are inclined to then take action, TIAA-CREF says. The survey reveals 87% of women take positive steps after receiving advice, such as adjusting their asset allocation or increasing savings rates. Sixty-four percent made a change in their spending habits, 57% increased the amount they save each month, 53% established a plan for managing debt, and 51% set up an emergency fund.

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The analysis reports 33% of women are interested in receiving financial advice—a significant increase from 24% only a year ago. However, advice can come from a variety of resources and many women are still struggling to find the right one. Sixty-six percent of women said they find it hard to know what sources to trust, up from 48% in 2013. Thirty-nine percent report that it is hard to find the time to look for financial advice, up from 30% in 2013. Thirty-four percent say it is difficult to know where to start looking, up from 23% in 2013.

Kathie Andrade, executive vice president and head of individual advisory services at TIAA-CREF, believes that professional and personalized financial advice is available to women, but they often get sidetracked by several barriers. “We have found that there are ways to break through these obstacles and help women access relevant advice in ways that are convenient to them,” Andrade says.

Sixty-one percent of women say they rely on financial services providers for advice, and 41% turn to financial services providers’ websites or online tools. Each of these figures has increased each year since 2012. In addition, 57% of women would like access to tools and calculators that break down complex advice principles, while 54% are interested in participating in on-demand webinars. Fifty-two percent are interested in participating in live seminars that cover personally relevant financial topics.

TIAA-CREF launched its Woman2Woman Financial Living online community to support the growing group of women who use financial services providers’ website or online tools. The site provides a series of workshops and webinars where users can request in-person meetings with a financial adviser to discuss their retirement goals and objectives.

“Nearly half (49%) of the women surveyed say the ability to interact with someone online with basic personal financial questions would be helpful,” Andrade says. “It’s encouraging to see women really embrace the counsel they receive and use it to their advantage. And with women typically saving less for retirement than men, any strides toward improving financial well-being and retirement security should be applauded—and then used as a stepping stone toward the next financial goal.”

TIAA-CREF has made an executive summary available for the Advice Matters Survey.

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