Product & Service Launches – 5/7/2026

Intuit Taps Vestwell to Partner With QuickBooks 401(k)

Retirement plan provider Vestwell was selected as the exclusive partner for Intuit’s QuickBooks 401(k), a retirement savings offering built for QuickBooks Workforce business customers.

Embedded directly into QuickBooks Workforce, the offering enables small- and mid-market businesses to provide retirement benefits through the platform used to manage payroll, finances and human capital management.

Capabilities of the partnership include 401(k) plan options, safe harbor and auto-enrollment options, investment oversight, platform access in 20 languages, payroll-integrated administration, built-in compliance and operational support, including Form 5500 filing and access to retirement specialists for support.

Vestwell  administers more than $50 billion in assets. 

Morgan Stanley Investment Management Opens Wealth Education Center

Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched the Wealth Education Center, a learning platform for financial advisers led by Managing Director Brian Smith.

Built for advisers with high-net-worth and ultra‑high-net-worth clients, the platform focuses on adviser skills in tax‑aware investing, alternatives and portfolio construction across market environments.

The new center will have four branches:

• The tax-forward investing center, which will have resources in investment tax management;
• The alternatives investing center, for all private market education;
• The BEAT [bonds, equities, alternatives and taxes] center, focusing on cross-asset investment insights; and
• The adviser institute, with strategies and insights for adviser practices.

The platform will leverage insights across Morgan Stanley, including the recently established Morgan Stanley Institute.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management and its investment advisory affiliates had $1.9 trillion in assets under management or supervision as of March 31.

IRA Financial Expands Investment Access for Retirement Clients

IRA Financial, a retirement solution for self-directed retirement clients, debuted the capability for clients to access both alternative assets and traditional investments within a single self-directed retirement account.

Powered by Interactive Brokers Inc., the new capability allows IRA Financial clients to trade stocks, exchange-traded funds, bonds, currencies and mutual funds alongside alternative assets such as real estate, private equity, precious metals and cryptocurrencies. 

Knighthead Life Launches US Fixed Indexed Annuity

Knighthead Insurance Group, a global retirement solutions provider,  launched two fixed indexed annuities, Chartline and Chartline Bonus. The products are offered by Knighthead Life, the U.S. carrier of Knighthead Insurance Group.

The products expand Knighthead’s U.S. offerings following the 2025 launch of the multi-year guaranteed annuity, Staysail.

Knighthead Insurance Group manages $7 billion in annuity reserves.

StepStone Group Partners With PitchBook on Private Market Metrics

StepStone Group L.P., a private market investment firm, is providing access to benchmarks to the platform of PitchBook a Morningstar Company, a private capital markets intelligence provider and Morningstar company.

The partnership combines performance and operating metrics from StepStone’s proprietary SPI platform with PitchBook’s private capital market data, research, and artificial intelligence and machine learning tools. It is intended to benefit fund managers, investors and service providers with capabilities across private equity buyout, venture capital, growth equity and infrastructure deals.

The offering is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2026. 

StepStone had $220 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2025. PitchBook serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide.