- WIB PH
The color is still going to be orange, but there's a lot changing at ING U.S. Retirement Services under CEO Maliz Beams.
September 18
Maliz Beams
CEO of Retirement Solutions, Voya Financial (Formerly ING U.S.)
Maliz Beams has found something many employers have been searching for: an effective way to nudge workers to save.
Displaying 401(k) plan information online and via mobile devices and putting the focus on monthly retirement income years hence is one of the best ways to get employees to save more for the future, she says.
A sample of 100,000 participants at 10 retirement plans Voya looked at finds that when the plans had its myOrangeMoney digital platform running on their plan website for just a few weeks, 20% increased their 401(k) savings rate an average of 38%.
Voya focused on how participants can create future monthly income, rather than just confronting them with their overall balance which most individuals find hard to translate.
The system allows participants to visually track their progress. They can move sliders to see how changes to the contribution rate, estimated retirement age, rate of return and risk can affect their retirement income goals. Then they can change contribution percentages in response.
With an IPO in its rear-view mirror, the former ING U.S. has continued the process of rebranding to Voya over the past year following its spinoff from ING Group. Beams' Retirement Solutions unit reported operating revenue of $953 million in the first quarter of 2014, a 7% increase from a year earlier. As of March 31, assets under management and administration were about $370 billion, also up 7%. In April, the Teachers' Retirement Board picked Voya as its new recordkeeper for roughly $500 million in retirement assets run by the prodigious California State Teachers' Retirement System's supplementary savings plan.
Beams is continuing to focus on getting more women to become financial advisers through the Women's Advisory Network that her organization spearheaded about five years ago.
"We are finding when dealing with our customer base, over 50% of the decision-makers are women, and they tend to have a higher comfort level dealing with other women," says Beams.
