Voya Improves Its Website’s Participant Experience

The firm says data shows that individuals who engage with their retirement plan digitally save 52% more than those who do not.

Voya has made enhancements to the digital design of its plan participant website. The aim is to make it more intuitive, accessible and streamlined so participants can more easily monitor and manage their savings and improve their retirement outcomes.

Voya based the new interface on the primary reasons individuals visit their retirement accounts: to check savings progress, adjust contributions and monitor investments.

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The enhancements also feature simplified page designs and a newly added website “tour” to help employees navigate the site to best accomplish their goals.

The firm says its new site makes it easy for users to choose from a wide range of financial wellness resources, including interactive tools, the Voya Learn live and on-demand education platform, articles and a blog featuring timely and trending topics.

Even before making these improvements to the website, digital engagement has risen by more than 26% in the past year.

In today’s world, digital platforms are becoming increasingly important as individuals seek to access information and guidance wherever and however they need. What’s more, Voya’s participant data also shows that individuals who engage with their retirement plan digitally save 52% more than those who do not.

“At Voya, our digital experiences are informed by three primary guiding principles,” says Amy Vaillancourt, head of wealth solutions management for Voya Financial. “These include: ensuring our capabilities are simple and easy to use; helping make the right choice the easy choice for individuals; and providing education and reflection in the context of what an individual is doing when they log on to their retirement plan experience. As we continue to enhance and improve our capabilities, we remain focused on scaling our digital platforms to help drive improved financial outcomes.”

New capabilities include giving status updates to participants with outstanding loans or who have taken out withdrawals, delivered via email and text message. If the participant has asked for a hard-copy prospectus, they can see UPS delivery-tracking information of that prospectus.

The website can be accessed on a computer, tablet or smartphone with a graphical interface that is user-friendly and shows short videos.

Voya made these changes after reviewing participant feedback and behavioral finance insights from the Voya Behavioral Finance Institute.

All said, Voya says its aim is to simplify retirement planning decisions to ultimately improve retirement outcomes.

ForUsAll Features Cryptocurrency in New Alt 401(k) Platform

Employees will be allowed to transfer up to 5% of their balances into a secure account that has exposure to certain cryptocurrencies.

ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, has introduced the Alt 401(k).

The retirement investment platform allows employers to provide alternative investment options within 401(k) plans. The company is enabling employers to offer cryptocurrency as the plan’s first alternative investment by working with Coinbase Institutional, a leading cryptocurrency platform.

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“For too long, too many Americans haven’t had the same access to alternative investments that wealthy and professional investors have had. Our mission is to provide every American with the tools necessary to build a brighter financial future, and making these alternatives more readily available is a key step toward that,” says Jeff Schulte, CEO of ForUsAll. “By introducing the Alt 401(k), we are democratizing access to what drives wealth for the wealthy—alternative investment options, combined with our original core offering of low-cost index funds and personalized help.”

With the Alt 401(k), employees can transfer up to 5% of their balances into a secure account that has exposure to certain cryptocurrencies; are able to buy, hold, and sell more than 50 different cryptocurrencies; and can receive ongoing portfolio monitoring and education. For employers, the platform offers a full turn-key automated 401(k), with both traditional and alternative investment options.

“When we created our institutional platform, our initial focus was making cryptocurrency accessible to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals,” says Brett Tejpaul, head of institutional coverage at Coinbase. “The next evolution is to broaden our reach and we are thrilled to be working with ForUsAll, the leading 401(k) technology platform, to expand access to cryptocurrency through 401(k)s.”

ForUsAll argues that cryptocurrency may provide investors tangible advantages in tax efficiency, diversification, savings incentives, convenience and security. The investment platform’s feature gives employees access to owning cryptocurrencies that are stored using storage methods such as “cold” or offline storage. Employees can access their crypto holdings similarly to how they access other retirement investments, without having to manage digital wallets or private keys, ForUsAll says.

“Technologies such as blockchain and cryptocurrency have the potential to transform our economy. Small early investments in this space may make sense as part of a diversified portfolio,” adds David Ramirez, co-founder and chief investment officer (CIO) at ForUsAll. “Combining access to these assets with education and portfolio monitoring may allow more Americans to benefit from these emerging technologies.”

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