Voya has launched a new initiative to assist businesses owned by minorities, women, veterans, and members of the disability and LGBTQ communities in their retirement readiness.
Citing its own research that finds 79% of Americans believe corporations should support t minority-owned businesses impacted by COVID-19, the Just Right Advantage Program “is focused on helping employers and organizations within undercapitalized, underserved and “under-saved” communities.
The program offers a fee credit when they establish or retain their retirement plan.
“We believe that this is an important time to support the businesses and communities that have been most heavily impacted by COVID-19, including those owned by minorities and other underserved communities,” Rodney Martin, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer Voya Financial, said in a statement. “The financial challenges brought on by the pandemic were exacerbated for many of the businesses within these communities due to forced closures and lack of access to relief funds.”
While the impacts of the pandemic have affected many businesses across the U.S., further industry research shows that minority-, women-, veteran-, disability- and LGBTQ-owned companies and their employees have seen some of the greatest effects.
Federal Reserve study
As an example, findings from a recent study through The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that almost half of Black-owned businesses and roughly 32% of Latinx-owned businesses across the country shut down between February and April.
To put it in perspective, only 17% of white-owned businesses closed during the same period.
According to the study, some of the primary reasons for these disparities included less access to capital, including the federal Paycheck Protection Program loans, and funding gaps that existed prior to the
The Just Right Advantage program builds on federal and state legislative enactments related to access to capital, business growth and resiliency, savings promotion, and retirement preservation and expansion for employers and organizations in undercapitalized, underserved and under-saved communities.
Through June 30, 2021, Voya will offer the one-time fee credit to eligible employers, including minority-women-veteran-disability-LGBTQ-owned businesses, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations.
To be eligible, entities must be certified minority-owned businesses, while nonprofit entities must be 501(c)(3). Both new and existing plans must also adopt plan features to help support increased participation and savings.
They include:
- Automatic enrollment to help employees with getting into the retirement plan;
- automatic increase capabilities to help plan participants increase their savings opportunities; and,
- the implementation of advisory services to help employees stay on track with their goals through ongoing guidance and education.
Ongoing financial education and guidance will also be available to participating employers and their employees in the form of webinars, a web portal available at VoyaJustRightAdvantage.com and through Voya Learn, Voya’s live and on-demand video portal offering access to financial education on a broad range of financial wellness and retirement topics.
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.
