Voya Launches Advisor Managed Accounts Program with Morningstar
Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) has launched a new advisor managed accounts advisory program in collaboration with Morningstar Investment Management LLC.
Voya Financial Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) has launched a new advisor managed accounts advisory program in collaboration with Morningstar Investment Management LLC.
Voya said that the new advisor managed accounts program provides registered investment advisors with the resources needed to distribute investment advice to retirement plan participants through a “consistent and scalable user experience.”
Voya has already launched the program with advisory firms CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC and Resources Investment Advisors. As the program advances, the company expects to work with additional advisory firms to offer the service to more clients.
New research from Morningstar Investment Management suggests managed accounts are likely to gain more popularity among workplace retirement plans in today’s environment as more individuals continue remote-working arrangements.
According to their research, remote workers invest differently from office-based workers in 401(k) plans in that they are less likely to be interested in using default investments, such as target-date funds, and are more likely to be interested in a personalized advice option, such as managed accounts. The same study also notes that participants who use managed accounts tend to save more for retirement — both when the service is offered as an opt-in and opt-out method.
According to Voya research, when thinking about their retirement, working individuals seek greater support and access to advice around saving and investment decisions. The results of a new Voya survey show that 76 percent of working Americans currently enrolled in a workplace retirement plan agree or strongly agree that they want access to a professional whom they can call with questions and to make investment and savings decisions for them.
“In today’s world, financial professionals are becoming increasingly important, particularly as some individuals will need to rebuild their savings due to the financial impacts of COVID-19…,” said Jeff Cimini, senior vice president of retirement product at Voya Financial. “As we continue to think holistically about how the financial wellness needs of individuals will evolve and — importantly — how we can address them, innovations such as managed accounts are an important consideration for employers.”
Morningstar Investment Management provides the technology for the advisor managed accounts platform and serves as the fiduciary for portfolio assignment and recommendations on such things as savings rates and retirement age.
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) provides financial services to approximately 14.8 million individual and institutional customers in the United States. The company had $700 billion in total assets under management and administration as of December 31, 2020.
