Empower has announced a series of “entity name alignments” that aim to strengthen its brand and simplify how the organization connects with customers—setting aside its legacy Great-West and affiliated branding.
The changes[i] are planned and deliberate as the eight-year-old financial services provider Empower fully aligns its legacy company names under the brand of “Empower.” According to a press release, these changes also follow a series of other recent changes, which include the acquisition of the empower.com domain.[ii]
According to the firm, transitioning fully under “Empower” is a strategic approach to elevate the firm’s brand as it continues to develop its offerings and increase its visibility to more individuals while expanding its focus to include financial wellness. Earlier this year the organization announced that it was replacing Empower Retirement with “Empower” as the company’s public-facing name.
To “further promote alignment and consumer recognition,” Empower has changed the names of its U.S. companies with a legacy “Great-West” name to an “Empower” name. In addition, Empower’s in-house institutional investment advisory and research division has also been renamed “Empower Investments™,” and certain investment products offered by Empower, including mutual funds historically marketed under the “Great-West Funds” brand, are also being renamed to incorporate “Empower” into the product names in place of “Great-West.”
Empower’s legacy organization originally came to Denver in the 1970s. Empower was created in 2014 through a three-part merger of the retirement companies of Great-West Financial, Putnam Investments and J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services.
In April 2022, Empower closed its deal on the acquisition of Prudential Financial’s full-service retirement business, and in 2020, Empower bought the retirement business of MassMutual. Later that year Empower acquired wealth manager and registered investment adviser Personal Capital, as well as reaching an agreement to acquire 476 retirement plans, providing recordkeeping and administrative services of Fifth Third bank. And of course, there was the 2019 21-year deal that resulted in a renaming of the Denver Bronco’s Mile High Stadium to Empower Field at Mile High.
For additional details regarding the name changes, please see https://www.empower.com/name-change.
[i] The companies changing their names are: Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company is now Empower Annuity Insurance Company of America, Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York is now Empower Life & Annuity Insurance Company of New York, Great-West Trust Company, LLC is now Empower Trust Company, LLC., Advised Assets Group, LLC is now Empower Advisory Group, LLC., Great-West Funds, Inc. is now Empower Funds, Inc., Great-West Capital Management, LLC is now Empower Capital Management, LLC., Great-West Financial Retirement Plan Services, LLC is now Empower Plan Services, LLC., GWL&A Financial Inc. is now Empower Holdings, Inc., and GWFS Equities, Inc. is now Empower Financial Services, Inc.
