Voya Creates Team Focused on Managed Accounts

Voya Financial Inc. has created a team of specialists focused on increasing distribution and participant use of managed accounts, the firm announced Monday.

The team was created through an expansion of Voya’s Employee Success and Education Team, with four people on the team focused on participant education within its managed account services business. The group will be led by Denis Kelleher, manager of wealth solutions corporate markets, and will focus on increasing managed account usage across Voya’s platforms, as well as by collaborating with its phone-based investment adviser managed account team, according to the firm.

“We know that personalized advice helps employees feel more financially and emotionally prepared for retirement,” Jason White, director of Advisory Services at Voya, said in an emailed statement. “As a result, we continue to offer managed account solutions to all of our plan sponsor clients, with adoption and interest continuing to grow as we expand solution set.”

The push comes as Voya reported 28% growth in its managed account solutions in 2023 compared with the prior year. The firm also saw participant enrollment in the offerings rise 10% year-over-year in 2023, which it attributes to targeted, educational enrollment campaigns.

Managed accounts offer, for a fee, professionally managed investment services based on a participant’s information, along with the option of retirement planning and income advice. Other recordkeepers, including some of the country’s largest, are focused on managed accounts as a key business driver for more personalized retirement solutions. More than one-third of plan sponsors say they are currently offering managed accounts to their participants, according to the 2024 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Benchmarking Report. PLANSPONSOR, like PLANADVISER, is owned by ISS STOXX.

Voya’s new team of managed account specialists consists of Kelleher and:

Garvis Campbell

Ridha Durrani

Patrick Jereb

Travis Lowe

Garvis Campbell, most recently a client service manager with ADP Retirement Services. He will be based in Hodgenville, Kentucky, and will support the Central Mid-Atlantic region;

Ridha Durrani, previously a private wealth manager with Fidelity Investments. She will be based in Dallas, covering the Central Southeast region;

Patrick Jereb, previously a manager and advice consultant at Charles Schwab, will be based in Phoenix, overseeing the West region;

and Travis Lowe has been working as an investment adviser on Voya’s phone-based managed account team since 2018, after working at Empower as a retirement counselor. He will be based in Boston, covering the Northeast region.

Voya offers both in-plan and out-of-plan advice and guidance through a partnership with Morningstar Investment Management and Edelman Financial Engines. They also partner with registered investment firms through an adviser managed account solution, according to White.

On February 8, Voya announced a qualified default investment alternative that transitions a participant from a target-date fund into a managed account solution when they are closer to retirement—generally around 50, though the age can vary according to plan sponsor.