The forthcoming offering will combine Franklin Templeton’s proprietary Goals Optimization Engine (GOE) methodology with Vestwell’s recordkeeping infrastructure to create an entirely digital, open-architecture managed account solution.
The offering will live on Vestwell’s platform, with the ability to automatically enroll participants into a personalized investment strategy. Citing a market need to revolutionize the space, the firms explain that they set out to build a managed account offering that is customizable, affordable and built on a modern fintech infrastructure that benefits all users.
Moreover, the firms note that with an open-architecture fund universe and a dynamic qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) capability, advisors can craft their own unique investment programs to provide fiduciary advice while leveraging a modern fintech platform to effectively scale. The solution will also allow plan sponsors to rethink their default option by choosing a dynamic investment model for each employee, rather than a traditional single target-date series.
“Enabling plan advisors to deliver goals-based, personalized, cost-effective advice to Americans in the workplace is our focus,” notes Yaqub Ahmed, head of U.S. Retirement and Insurance at Franklin Templeton. “We want to equip advisors and investors with innovative tools and technology to achieve that goal at scale.”
“Whether a plan has $500 thousand or $500 million under management, participants deserve access to a quality, personalized investment plan,” adds Aaron Schumm, Founder & CEO of Vestwell. “With a native advisor managed account offering powered by Franklin Templeton’s Goals Optimization Engine, we can deliver on making great plans more equitable and accessible.”
The offering is currently in late-stage development, with an expected rollout in the first half of 2021.
