Modern consumers understand and expect an “experience” and 401k participants are no different.
Customized, intuitive, and—importantly—on demand are all hallmarks of today’s buying public and a reason for Empower Retirement’s new holistic website.
The Colorado-based Empower, the nation’s No. 2 recordkeeper behind Fidelity, said the offering “presents a highly personalized digital experience that can integrate the elements of any individual’s financial picture to help them better understand their current situation and future needs, driving increased financial confidence.”
Leveraging Empower’s recent Personal Capital acquisition, the website’s capabilities combine retirement income, net worth, savings, spending, and debt in a simple snapshot on the homepage.
“Retirement investors who are better informed about their complete financial picture are in a strong position to make better decisions,” Empower Retirement President and CEO Edmund F. Murphy III, said in a statement. “Empower has designed this new experience to help drive more information into the hands of individuals so they can work with their advisors to achieve their goals.”
The company based the design on client and plan participant input, as well as the company’s experience with investors. Empower cites data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute that shows some 80 percent of people want help managing competing financial priorities.
It will begin offering the new website later this year. It’s designed to drive both educational elements and advice to participants through a simplified interface designed to meet the needs of novice and sophisticated investors. With all assets and liabilities presented in one view, meaningful next steps can be synthesized that create a complete picture of one’s financial wellness to inform a broader, integrated experience.
“We recognize that most people have multiple goals in addition to retirement,” Murphy added. “This comprehensive and holistic approach enables us to better serve their full financial needs.”
Held-away assets included
Individuals have the choice to use the new Empower digital experience as a stand-alone retirement planning experience or link to accounts with outside financial institutions, including, for example, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and 529 college investment accounts.
As an individual adds new information to the site, personalized “next steps” guide decision-making, with messages customized to the individual’s financial situation. Along the way, in-person financial counselors are available to help.
The website can render in both English and Spanish languages. Participants can view the site on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
“Using some very progressive thinking, we are leveraging an innovative set of financial technology tools to deliver a brand-new experience to investors, but our commitment to in-person engagement remains,” Empower Retirement Chief Product Officer Tina Wilson concluded. “Any individual can call us or their advisor at any time for help.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
