Product & Service Launches – 9/12/24

Milliman Introduces Candidly Student Loan Certification for Retirement Plans

Milliman Inc. announced the introduction of a student loan certification solution for its 401(k) recordkeeping clients through Candidly.

The solution allows defined contribution plan sponsors to provide matching contributions based on participants’ qualified student loan payments. Through the collaboration, Candidly enables participant certification of qualified student loan payments, while Milliman calculates the match and fulfills the contributions based on the certified loan payments.

Participants can self-certify their student loans on Candidly’s platform, which offers support in planning and paying for college, repaying student debt and preparing for retirement.

WTW Launches Flexible Benefits Service

Following a recent IRS private letter ruling regarding the use of employer benefit contributions by employees, WTW announced the launch of a new solution that provides employees with expanded choice and flexibility in allocating employer contributions among various financial benefits.

Under the program, the requesting sponsor’s defined contribution plan participants can direct employer DC contribution across the DC plan, non-taxable student loan repayments, retiree health reimbursement arrangements and health savings accounts.

“Many employers have been interested in providing employees with robust choice and flexibility for a long time, but the legal, compliance, tax and administrative challenges associated with an ‘employee choice’ program have been hard to overcome, until now,” said Chris West, DC strategy leader at WTW, in a statement. “This innovative program allows plan sponsors to more effectively respond to the diverse financial worries of employees by letting individuals direct employer dollars where they need them the most.” 

WTW served as a strategic adviser to the company that requested the IRS ruling and assisted in developed the plan design.

Arete Wealth, Luma Elevate Structured Products and Annuities

Arete Wealth Management LLC, a broker/dealer and registered investment advisory firm, announced it is partnering with Luma Financial Technologies, an alternative investment platform. Arete Wealth plans to leverage Luma’s platform to streamline the process of buying and managing structured products and annuities for its clients.

Luma’s platform first emerged in 2018 to serve the structured product market and extended into the annuity industry in February 2021.

“Our goal is to enhance access and transparency in the alternative investment space, empowering advisers with the tools necessary to better understand, objectively analyze, purchase, and manage products on behalf of their clients,” stated Donald Pogan, chief product officer at Luma, in an announcement.

Venerable Investment Advisers Launches Mutual Fund Lineup

Venerable Investment Advisers announced the launch of an initial lineup of mutual funds comprised of approximately $9.9 billion in assets under management.

The mutual funds serve as investment options for insurance company separate accounts and bring the management of the mutual funds underlying Venerable Insurance and Annuity Co.’s variable annuity business in-house.

“This is an important milestone in the standup of our investment adviser, and we are grateful for the partnership of Russell Investments and Franklin Templeton along the way,” said Tim Brown, president of Venerable Advisers, in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our focus on optimizing our business and growing our AUM in future fund launches.”