Vestwell has partnered with Franklin Templeton to develop a customizable managed account solution, the recordkeeper announced on Wednesday. The tool will be offered through Vestwell’s platform, and will use Franklin Templeton’s proprietary Goals Optimization Engine.
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By hosting the offering on its platform, Vestwell can capture data that allows advisors to offer more personalized experiences. Sponsors can offer dynamic qualified default investment options for each employee, rather than selecting a single target-date series.
“We recognize the important role customized advice plays in the retirement plan ecosystem and are excited to be working with Franklin Templeton on a native managed account offering,” Aaron Schumm, founder and CEO of Vestwell, said in a statement. “Whether a plan has $500,000 or $500 million under management, participants deserve access to a quality, personalized investment plan. With a native advisor managed account offering powered by Franklin Templeton’s Goals Optimization Engine (GOE), we can deliver on making great plans more equitable and accessible.”
A recent report from Vestwell suggests that plan participants are interested in more customized support. The report found that 70% of 401k plan participants would be open to an advisor reaching out to them, although only 41% of advisors have done so.
The new offering is expected in the first half of 2021, and will allow advisors to offer a white-labeled, open-architecture 401k with an integrated managed account solution.
Yaqub Ahmed, head of US Retirement and Insurance at Franklin Templeton, noted that investors have different needs at different times in their lives, making customized advice an important part of retirement success.
“We believe every U.S. worker and household has the right to experience financial well-being during each life phase. Enabling plan advisors to deliver goals-based, personalized, cost-effective advice to Americans in the workplace is our focus,” Ahmed said in a statement.
He added that one of Franklin Templeton’s objectives is to “equip advisors and investors with innovative tools and technology to achieve that goal at scale. We’re thrilled to be working with Vestwell to deliver a managed account offering that helps advisors more effectively engage during all stages of a participant’s savings journey.”
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Danielle Andrus works as an editor for The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®). Over the past 15 years, she has worked in various capacities, including writing and editing. Andrus has worked for several notable publications and outlets and spent more than seven years as the executive managing editor at ALM Media, publisher of Investment Advisor magazine and ThinkAdvisor.com. Before that, she was online editor for Summit Professional Networks, where she oversaw newsletter development for four magazines, including Benefits Selling, Senior Market Advisor, Boomer Market Advisor, and Bank Advisor.
