Products October 23, 2020

UBS Adds Student Loan Debt Repayment Program to Workforce Suite

The investment firm has also added personalized financial wellness digital capabilities.

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UBS Global Wealth Management has expanded its Workplace Wealth Solutions suite by collaborating with FutureFuel.io to enable companies to help their workers consolidate and/or pay down their student loan debt. It has also launched a user-friendly financial wellness digital experience that can be personalized and added a new Retirement Plan Advisor program to make its guided, fiduciary solutions available to smaller businesses.

“The expanded tools and capabilities will help meet the needs of our current and prospective clients across all generations and income levels, providing financial wellness guidance and innovative workplace solutions on a user-friendly platform,” says Michael Barry, head of workplace wealth solutions at UBS Global Wealth Management. “These advancements further our strategic objective to continue to increase the value we can provide to the workplace—and businesses of all sizes—while helping employees understand their corporate benefits and improve the relationship with their money.”

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The partnership with FutureFuel.io includes the following tools: Round Up, Giveback, Refinance and Roll Up. UBS notes that the average FutureFuel.io user saves $15,000 on accrued interest and shaves four years off their loan.

The Retirement Plan Advisor platform integrates a fiduciary platform from Morningstar to offer these services to the small market.

The digital financial wellness platform combines human guidance and digital resources.

Products October 22, 2020

Nationwide Announces Upcoming Annuity Suite and New Partnerships

Additionally, in 2021, Nationwide will introduce several in-plan lifetime income options that pair income guarantees with TDFs.

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Nationwide has announced that it will roll out a new suite of in-plan annuity products and partnerships with industry leaders, including at least five new solutions the company plans to implement from late 2020 through 2021.

“We know this is not a one-size-fits-all problem, and we’re confident that a suite of solutions will give plan sponsors the flexibility to select the option that’s best for their participants,” says Eric Stevenson, president of Nationwide Retirement Plans. “Our approach is unique, by going beyond retirees’ well-established need for guaranteed income, to also address their growing need to protect principal. It’s the combination of both benefits that makes our approach a game-changer for our industry.” 

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Nationwide says the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act opened a new era of opportunity for retirement plan participants by expanding the ability for plan sponsors to help participants live in retirement. For example, the SECURE Act made in-plan annuities within defined contribution (DC) plans such as 401(k)s and 457(b)s more accessible and portable.

Nationwide’s new suite of products will offer a broad range of solutions for plan participants. In December, Nationwide will introduce a new in-plan fixed indexed annuity to provide principal protection with potential for growth based on the return of an index.

Additionally, in 2021, Nationwide will introduce several in-plan lifetime income options that pair income guarantees with target-date funds (TDFs), all designed to be qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) compliant.

“Similar to a target-date fund, we will allow our plan participants to select an investment option and then we’ll take care of the rest of the puzzle by providing a glide path from accumulation into retirement income,” Stevenson says.

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