Products December 7, 2022

Adviser Product Partnerships

Schwab partners with Envestnet for cloud-based billing solution; AICPA and CIMA launch ESG fundamentals program for accountants; ShareBuilder 401k Waives Plan Setup Costs in December for Small Businesses; and more.

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Schwab Advisers Gain Access to Envestnet’s Cloud-Based Billing System

Independent Schwab financial advisers now have access to Envestnet’s cloud-based billing solution called Redi2 BillFinsolution.

Advisers that are part of Schwab Advisor Solutions can now use Envestnet’s billing solution for capabilities including flexible billing setup, standardized templates and reminders and alerts, the companies said.

“Our enhanced integration with BillFin further demonstrates the depth and breadth of our third-party technology capabilities, enabling advisers to choose and combine technology that best meets their needs,” Kartik Srinivasan, head of third-party integrations at Schwab Digital Advisor Solutions, said in a press release.

The BillFin system is currently used by more than 670 advisory firms and is designed to help in areas including operational efficiencies, identifying and plugging fee leaks and simplifying user experience and workflow to minimize errors and shorten billing cycles.

AICPA and CIMA Launch ESG Fundamentals Certificate for Accountants

AICPA and CIMA, which together run the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, are offering a new certificate focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting and assurance. The associations said the growing demand for ESG data from investors, lenders, customers and policymakers makes ESG a high-priority category for accountants.

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The Fundamentals of ESG Certificate is geared toward CPAs, management accountants such as CGMAs and finance professionals looking to obtain baseline knowledge of ESG topics. The course takes nine hours and graduates will get a digital badge they can display on their online profiles, the associations said.

“Business reporting and the underlying concepts of enterprise value are evolving rapidly, and no group is more essential to instilling trust and integrity into that process than accountants,” Susan S. Coffey, CIMA’s CEO of public accounting, said in a press release.

The program will include:

  • Identifying the key aspects in each area of environmental, social and governance
  • Recognizing the expectations of investors and the impact on business
  • Assessing the responsibility of businesses for key ESG issues
  • Recognizing the business case for implementing sustainable practices
  • Identifying the role of the accounting and auditing profession in sustainability
  • Recognizing the current sustainability reporting frameworks and reporting requirements

ShareBuilder 401k Waives Plan Setup Costs in December for Small Businesses

Digital retirement plan provider ShareBuilder 401k is waiving 401(k) plan setup pricing for all new clients during December.

Sharebuilder said that from December 1 through December 22, companies with more than one employee can save up to $995 in setup costs by starting a small business 401(k) plan, and self-employed business owners can start a solo 401(k) plan without paying the standard setup charge of $150.

“Running a small business can be especially challenging during this period of economic uncertainty,” Stuart Robertson, CEO of ShareBuilder 401k, said in a press release. “We want to help entrepreneurs keep more of their hard-earned money by making it easier for them to start a 401(k) and receive all the benefits.”

BMO and United Way Partner on Free Financial Literacy eBook

BMO has partnered with United Way Worldwide to offer a free financial literacy eBook aiming to help bridge the financial literacy gap among Americans. The digital resource addresses financial topics with tips to help people make real financial progress, including budgeting, debt and credit management, digital banking, homeownership, loans and retirement planning, the organizations said.

For the last two years, BMO and United Way have collaborated to identify ways to enhance communication with consumers and ensure financial information and guidance is provided in an easy-to-digest format. Included in the partnership was a joint survey that found an overwhelming number of United Way clients were interested in additional financial literacy help.

A recent BMO Real Financial Progress Index survey found that financial confidence is declining, with only 39% of Americans stating they feel more financially secure than they were a year ago—down 11 points since last year. Meanwhile, 54% of Americans said they are making financial progress—down 8 points from last year—and 25% do not track financial progress at all.

UBS Partners with Addepar and Mirador on Wealth Analysis for Ultra-High-Net-Worth Investors

UBS launched a wealth analysis and reporting platform for ultra-high-net-worth investors in partnership with software and technology providers Addepar and Mirador. The platform provides a consolidated, real-time view of a portfolio across assets and liabilities, including traditional, non-traditional and illiquid assets, the firms said.

UBS financial advisers will have access to the platform’s analytics, which are designed to help them visualize their clients’ investment performance, cash flows and worth, while assessing the opportunities and risks across their portfolios.

Addepar’s data, analysis and reporting capabilities will also help UBS advisers consolidate clients’ performance calculations presented in a graphic interface to unlock additional insights on returns and investment trends. As part of the Addepar system, Mirador’s financial data technology experts will support UBS advisers with data management, custom visualization and tailored reporting, as well as operations and system maintenance.

Ameriprise Financial Partners with Dalton Education on Certified Military Financial Adviser Certification

Ameriprise Financial has partnered with Dalton Education to create a first-to-market Certified Military Financial Advisor™(CMFA) certification, the companies said.

The certification is earned through a mix of training and learning development modules typically completed over the course of 40-50 hours. The program is designed to teach a deep understanding of the unique life circumstances and the benefits available to veterans, active duty military, reserve and National Guard members and their families.

CMFA certification is available exclusively to Ameriprise advisers through June 2024. After that, the certification will be available to all qualifying advisers in the industry. The program will be run with Dalton Education, an education solutions provider for financial services professionals.

Wolters Kluwer Launches Plan Design Summary Tool on ftwilliam.com

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. announced a new plan design summary  tool available on its ftwilliam.com site, the information and software solutions company said in a press release. The new tool enables retirement service plan providers to track plan installation processes and deliver recommendations to plan sponsors during installation via ftwPortal Pro, a portal that provides users with secure, two-way access to plan documents, forms and other data.

The plan design tool was designed to streamline retirement plan installations and save users time, the company said. The tool features a detailed tracking log designed to help management stay informed during various steps of the plan installation process.

The tool’s global and plan-level dashboards will enable customers to view all plans and relevant data points. Users will also be able to create unlimited plan design templates based on their service model and available plan designs.

“Having developed this tool based on customer feedback, the Plan Design Summary is designed to simplify the complex installation process, which involves many parties and several stages,” Holly Roussel-Godfrey, senior technology project and program manager for Wolters Kluwer’s ftwilliam.com, said in a press release.

In Practice December 7, 2022

Voya’s New Workplace Head Thinking About the Employee Experience in More “Bundled” Fashion

Rob Grubka of Voya has had his role expanded to oversee workplace solutions, encompassing all benefits and savings businesses. He tells PLANADVISER the combined position is a natural progression to meet evolving employer needs.

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Voya Financial has promoted its former head of health, Rob Grubka, to a newly created role as CEO of workplace solutions as the firm pushes for a more holistic approach to employee benefits, savings and wealth management.

Rob Grubka

As head of Voya’s Health Solutions division through the height of the COVID pandemic, Grubka saw firsthand the demand for a wider range of support for employers, spanning everything from mental health to financial planning in an uncertain world.

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“We learned that we needed to be more holistic with employees to help them manage all the things they were dealing with,” Grubka tells PLANADVISER. “Employers were looking at the ways they could show up and be supportive for the people they rely on every day to operate the business.”

This ongoing connection between health, wealth and savings was made more explicit last Thursday when Voya announced Grubka will take a newly created position overseeing all workplace solutions and reporting to CEO-elect Heather Lavallee.

“Bringing together our Health Solutions and Wealth Solutions businesses under one leader ensures that we continue to deliver on the current expectations of our clients, while fostering greater alignment across our businesses to meet the growing needs of employers, employees and intermediaries,” Lavallee said in a press release.

The broader approach to employee engagement pushed during the start of COVID has not gone away, Grubka says. In fact, it is snowballing into other areas, including how much of an employee’s paycheck should be diverted into a 401(k) plan as compared to a health savings plan or some type of emergency savings fund.

“I think the industry is at a point where we did so much unbundled, that this is a good time to think about things in a more bundled fashion,” Grubka says.

That combining of health and wealth solutions is already well in place at Voya, Grubka says, with offerings such as myVoyage launched earlier this year. This “one-stop” platform for employees is an app where individuals get a complete view of their workplace benefits, as well as financial accounts, including personal checking and credit cards.

Retirement Background

Before taking the CEO of health solutions position at Voya in 2016, Grubka had worked as chief risk officer for the company’s retirement division (now wealth solutions) and former annuities business. Prior to joining Voya, he held positions with Lincoln Financial, including head of group protection in the annuity and retirement markets, and senior vice president and head of retirement solutions products.

In the new role, Grubka will be overseeing about 3,600 employees around the country, working both in Voya offices and remotely in the New York-based company’s hybrid workplace.

Grubka says his teams will be working to find ways for employers to go beyond the flood of information during open enrollment to engagement throughout the year in simple and educational ways.

“I really do think the emphasis on tools and experience for the consumer is foundational,” Grubka says. “To me, that is really the big hurdle to jump. … There are an awful lot of solutions, but are they getting used well?”

Whether employees are deciding between putting their paycheck toward a health savings account or considering a retirement income option, the connectivity between the decisions is crucial for their long-term success, Grubka says.

One of the largest retirement recordkeepers by assets, Voya’s investing division has $317 billion in assets under management for both institutional and individual investors. The firm also works with employers on the insurance side of health, providing stop-loss coverage that can mitigate the payouts related to high-cost employee medical claims.

Voya is not the only retirement provider that has been linking health and financial wellness more distinctly. Empower works with health-services provider Optum on its health savings accounts, and Fidelity Investments offers a health savings account integrated with a wealth investment platform.

Meanwhile, full-service aggregators such as Hub International and OneDigital Investment Advisors have built advisory firms that can work across retirement planning, healthcare benefits and insurance.

Grubka says the industry will have no problem continuing to create products and solutions to help employees invest, save and be covered. The key will be helping employers engage with workers on the solutions.

“Plenty of ideas will continue to emerge, but the key is how to talk about them and think about them working together—that is the near-term opportunity,” Grubka says. “The bottom line is: I think employers need to do as much as they can to simplify, better educate and have employees walk away from these decisions confident of how they are using their paycheck.”

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