Products October 2, 2012

Great-West Unveils New Brand

Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. and its business segment, Great-West Retirement Services, will now market under the Great-West Financial brand.
Reported by

While most advisers are familiar with the Great-West name, research showed the company had less name recognition among customers and end users. “The clarity of having one brand and one voice with a focused and well-positioned message will help build name recognition and lessen potential confusion among customers,” said Joe Greene, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Great-West Financial.

The Great-West Retirement Services business segment is unchanged, but will now use the Great-West Financial logo. 

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

Great-West’s Maxim and Orchard Trust company names and the funds offered by them will be changing to be consistent with the new corporate brand. All funds now carry the Great-West name, and no longer reference the names Maxim or Orchard Trust, but the funds and their underlying investments will not be affected. The new fund names will be shown on fourth-quarter statement and will be reflected on the website by late October.

As part of its business plan, the company hired 12 additional 401(k) sales directors and rolled out the first two phases of a customer relationship management system, said Mitchell Graye, president and CEO of Great-West Financial. It also introduced two retail retirement income solutions to help bank financial advisers, independent broker/dealers and registered investment advisers meet this growing customer need.

“By year-end, we’ll launch a retirement income calculator, equip our 401(k) sales team with additional tools to assist advisers and continue to expand our retail retirement income distribution partnerships,” he said.

The company plans to fill up to 100 additional positions in the next 12 months.

More information on Great-West Financial’s new brand identity can be found here.

Data & Research October 2, 2012

401(k) Participants Seek Retirement Readiness Help

Participants in 401(k) plans prefer more proactive steps to increase their retirement readiness rather than historical transactions on their account statements, a study found.
Reported by

Additionally, participants would like more analysis, solutions and a better understanding of the tools and guidance the plan provider has to help them optimize the use of their retirement plan.

Nearly half of participants feel they are behind schedule on saving for retirement and three in five wish their employer did more to educate them about their retirement plan, according to the Fourth Annual 2012 DC Participant Experience Study by KK & Company and Greenwald & Associates.

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

Four in five trust the recommendations of their plan provider, and the same number reported being very interested in learning more about retirement planning from their plan.

Many participants have false confidence in the effectiveness of their efforts to save for retirement, the study revealed. Of the 54% of respondents who believe their savings for retirement are on schedule or ahead of schedule, half are older than age 35 and have less than $240,000 saved in their defined contribution account (26% have less than $100,000 saved).

 

(Cont...)

The study also found that most participants are extremely or very interested in having their statements include projections of how much they need and will have in their retirement plan at retirement age if they continued their contributions. Three approaches to projections were tested in the survey; the one that is most preferred is a projection based on a continuation of contribution rates. 

“[The American worker is] looking for more insights on how to prepare and manage for retirement rather than understanding the rules and mechanics of their 401(k) plan,” said Mathew Greenwald of Greenwald & Associates.

Information for the study was gathered through 17-minute interviews with 1,018 plan participants, using the Research Now online panel, from August 15 to August 22.

 

«