Products September 21, 2023

Investment Product and Service Launches

Hartford announces 1st private-equity-focused fund; Intention.ly launches Advisor Brand Builder; Lincoln Financial introduces LincSmart.

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Hartford Funds Announces 1st Private-Equity-Focused Fund

Hartford Funds announced the public launch of the Hartford Schroders Private Opportunities Fund, an actively managed closed-end tender offer fund for accredited investors that primarily invests in private equity strategies.

The fund is designed to provide broad exposure to a wide range of primarily small and midsize buyout and growth companies with enterprise values that range from $50 million to $1 billion, which are typically not accessible to investors through public equity markets.

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The Fund seeks opportunities within high-quality direct and co-investments, as well as primary and secondary private equity funds located in the U.S., Europe and Asia. It will generally focus on the following five sectors: health care, technology, consumers, services and industrials.

“We believe that, by offering the Hartford Schroders Private Opportunities Fund in a tender offer fund structure, we are helping expand investor access to private equity investments through lower investment minimums, periodic opportunities for liquidity, and familiar 1099 tax reporting, as compared to traditional private equity funds,” Vernon Meyer, Hartford Funds’ CIO, said in a statement.

Intention.ly Launches Advisor Brand Builder

Intention.ly, the growth engine design consultancy firm, announced the launch of the Advisor Brand Builder, a brand asset generation engine. The solution will be co-engineered by Intention.ly’s CEO, Kelly Waltrich, and Melissa Thomas, who will serve as the president of ABB.

“ABB combines the expertise and oversight of the agency option with an AI-optimized workflow to deliver a revolutionary brand development experience,” Waltrich said in a statement.

The brand generation engine serves up three custom brand style boards, including logo, color palette, brand imagery and more, as well as a complete firm message framework. The ABB team then jumps in to give each brand a thorough review, licensing images and refining the board for professional use. According to the firm, the whole process from start to applied brand assets takes less than 48 hours.

“The real magic of ABB is that it enables firms to build a unique, high-impact message platform and a suite of custom assets with a push of a button,” said Thomas in a statement. “The output is fully vetted by the experts of our agency team, delivering an end-to-end experience that simply doesn’t exist for advisory firms today.”

Lincoln Financial Introduces LincSmart

Lincoln Financial Group announced its new insurance technology experience, LincSmart, a simplified benefits administration experience. LincSmart will offer a host of InsurTech solutions for employers:

  • Absence status: real-time delivery of claim and leave status updates;
  • Evidence of Insurability decisions: instantaneous updates from Lincoln to an employers’ enrollment system, saving valuable time on EOI decisions;
  • Enrollment and member maintenance: real-time updates made to member eligibility data that help make the claims process more efficient; and
  • Plan design: automated transfer of plan design information from the Lincoln system into an employers’ enrollment system, reducing manual input and errors.

“The LincSmart solution makes it easier to understand which benefits management options are available, how they can improve processes and how to engage us for consultation,” Patrick Sullivan, Lincoln Financial’s vice president of InsurTech Partnerships, said in a statement. “Our goal is to help our employer partners stay efficient and competitive with automated InsurTech solutions that maximize their valuable time.”

Data & Research September 21, 2023

Money Over Marriage: Younger Generations’ Priorities Present Adviser Opportunity

Younger savers may be responding to financial hardship ranging from the pandemic to inflation, according to research from MassMutual.

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Most younger Americans believe financial stability is a stronger determinant of personal happiness than the person they marry, and financial advisers may be able to help address the former, according to the latest Consumer Spending & Saving Index from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

“Perhaps it’s a matter of being able to control what you can control, and personal accountability for one’s financial security may be falling in that camp to a greater degree than marriage today,” Amanda Wallace, head of insurance operations with MassMutual, said in an email response. “Younger generations have already observed or experienced financial hardships in their homes and witnessed the impact on seemingly healthy relationships.”

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Among respondents, 68% of those in Generations Z and X, as well as 72% of Millennials, identified , compared with only 55% of Baby Boomers who would made the same selection. Similarly, Gen Z (65%), Millennials (62%) and Gen X (54%) were more likely to say that financial security has a bigger impact on personal happiness than who they marry, as compared with Baby Boomers (41%) and the Silent Generation (29%).

Additionally, younger generations reported being more worried about how their day-to-day finances will be affected by economic issues such as inflation and recession. In contrast, Baby Boomers reported more concerns about how the U.S. political climate and the 2024 presidential election will impact their finances.

Wallace says the findings indicate the high emphasis younger people are placing on securing their finances, so financial and retirement advisers would be well served to work with younger savers to create a plan that fits with their goals.

“It takes planning and preparation,” Wallace says. “A financial and legal adviser can help build and protect the wealth of a couple, individually and as a family unit.”

Wallace noted that, looking behind the curtain at wealthy families, advisers help guide family members over a long time horizon. They apply a combination of investments and risk management tools to help realize the family’s long-term vision.

Mass Mutual also reported that although younger generations prioritize financial stability for their happiness, many are not feeling secure. Gen Z (45%), Millennials (53%) and Gen X (53%) respondents said they are not saving enough to retire at their ideal age. Comparatively, Baby Boomers fare better, with 32% reporting the same concern.

Additionally, when federal student loan payments were temporarily paused, more than one-third of those with student loan debt diverted funds originally designated for paying down their debt to purchase consumer goods.

“Investing in yourself through wise financial choices today is a commitment younger people can make to secure a more stable financial future,” Paul LaPiana, head of MassMutual’s brand, product and affiliated distribution, said in a statement. “As with most healthy habits, consistency is key. Good financial habits include saving and spending responsibly starting at a young age, increasing retirement contributions, and broadening your investment portfolio to unlock a financially secure and prosperous future.”

Commissioned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., the research was conducted online by PSB Insights from August 5 through 21 among a sample of 1,000 U.S. adults, as well as an additional sample of 500 adult Massachusetts residents from August 5 through 28.

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