Franklin Templeton, iJoin Seek to Expand Access to Goals-Based Personalization

Franklin Templeton announced it has engaged LDI-MAP (doing business as iJoin), to make Franklin Templeton’s Goals Optimization Engine (GOE) available via iJoin’s personalized managed account experience.

If implemented as a plan’s qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) or managed account solution, an investment advisory affiliate of Franklin Templeton can act as a 3(38) investment manager under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

“The shared commitment by each firm to democratizing personalized advice within defined contribution [DC] plans using data and technology is the foundation of the partnership,” says Kevin Murphy, Franklin Templeton head of workplace retirement distribution. “By combining the user experience and engagement expertise of iJoin with the asset allocation knowledge of Franklin Templeton investment solutions embedded within GOE, the firms can deliver personalized investment advice at scale.”

Franklin Templeton’s GOE combines portfolio construction expertise with dynamic programming to deliver individualized portfolio pathways based on an individual’s unique goals. GOE uses probability of success as the driver for the initial asset allocation and each reallocation in order to maximize likelihood of achieving the goal. Portfolio paths further adapt to client changes and market events.

Through iJoin’s connection with recordkeeping platforms, the new offering will allow financial advisers to provide a personalized, goals-based investing solution to participants within many smaller plans that do not currently have access to such a solution.

“Franklin Templeton’s goals-based approach to automated advice ideally pairs with iJoin’s data-driven, personalized, goals-based participant experience,” iJoin CEO Steve McCoy adds. “We’re pleased to partner with a market leader that is focused on personalization and making it available to all retirement plans and participants.”