BlackRock and Human Interest have announced that they are joining forces to expand access to retirement plans to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the United States.
According to the firms’ announcement, BlackRock is making a minority investment and leading a financing round to support the next phase of Human Interest’s growth. The San Francisco-based firm, which has secured approximately $500 million in funding to date, describes itself as an “affordable, full-service 401(k) provider that seeks to make it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to help their employees save for retirement.”
Citing data by AARP that approximately 57 million people do not have access to an employer-provided retirement plan and that this lack of access skews heavily to SMBs, Human Interest says that it is tackling this problem using technology to make setting up and administering a retirement plan easy and affordable for businesses of all sizes.
Human Interest has seen over 400% growth in the number of customers and revenue since the initial closing of the company’s last announced financing in 2021. BlackRock’s investment will help the business continue to enhance its technology platform capabilities and mature its operational processes and infrastructure, the announcement notes. In addition, BlackRock will share its experience and expertise to help Human Interest fulfill its mission.
“BlackRock has an amazing team focused on providing high-quality retirement saving and investment options. We are excited to work with BlackRock to find ways to bring retirement within reach of millions of additional workers in the coming years,” stated Human Interest CEO Jeff Schneble.
“Getting people on a path to a secure retirement is core to BlackRock’s purpose, from pioneering target-date funds 30 years ago to managing retirement assets for more than 40 million Americans today. We look forward to helping Human Interest close the access gap,” adds Anne Ackerley, Head of BlackRock’s Retirement Group.
