Retirement Plan Improvements Highlight FinTech During 401kTV Awards
Retirement plan improvements help plan participants and plan sponsors alike. Today, retirement plan improvement in the form of Fintech is at a tipping point. Led by advances and huge investments, fintech firms are competing to solve retirement, savings, investing and debt management issues at the worksite. At the inaugural 401kTV Genie Awards held in New York City on August 22nd at the Park Lane Hotel, 401kTV revealed the three Finalists for the 401kTV Genie Technology Award from the many nominations received. These three Finalists included:
- Vestwell – A venture-backed fintech dedicated to reinventing defined contribution record keeping, Vestwell is bringing retirement plan improvements by leveraging new technology. Traditional providers cannot adopt new tech without abandoning their current platform which is too costly and time-consuming. Partnering with advisors and providers, Vestwell started with the problem – how to help people save for retirement at work while overcoming the obstacles and then designing the technology to enable them integrating payroll, financial wellness, and low-cost investments. “Nobody cares about record keeping,” quipped Aaron Schumm, CEO and founder of Vestwell at the Genie Awards. “They only care if their problems are solved.”
- Thrive – The IRS private letter ruling for Abbott Labs was the seminal moment for Thrive’s CEO and Founder, David Krasnow. The ruling enabled employees saddled with student loan debt unable to save for retirement to take advantage of Abbott’s rich 5% match while paying off their student loan. Krasnow designed a system and build out the technology that successfully navigated and integrated the complex defined contribution world leveraging his 19-year experience as an advisor. Providers and advisors are integrating Thrive for clients to help their employees pay off student loans while taking advantage of the company match.
- EvoShare – Amazon Smile allows customers to donate a portion of their spending to the charity of their choice. Eugeny Prudchyenko had been trying to compete, unsuccessfully, when on a family trip to clear his head and consider alternatives, he saw a billboard by a 401k provider that reads “The best donation is one you make to yourself.” At that moment he realized he could help people spend to save for retirement by applying a portion of their credit card spending to their 401k plan. Leveraging technology used by firms like Ebates, thousands of retail vendors are feeding tax-deductible savings to customers’ retirement plans. Brilliant!
And the winner of the inaugural 401kTV Genie Tech award was Eugeny Prudchyenko. Congrats Eugeny on this retirement plan improvement and for winning the 401kTV GENIE Award!
The next 401kTV Genie Awards will be held in Chicago on 12/5/19, followed by the Los Angeles program during Q1 2020 – where 401kTV will continue to highlight retirement plan improvements in the fast-paced area of Fintech.
