Pontera, a technology provider serving advisors in managing held-away assets, announced this week a partnership with record keeper Manulife John Hancock Retirement.
The two firms plan to collaborate on providing secure (and compliant) management of accounts such as 401(k)s and other workplace retirement accounts, according to a prepared statement.
Pontera already works with hundreds of advisory firms, dozens of other technology providers and thousands of end clients and plan participants in managing workplace retirement accounts.
In an emailed response, Pontera acknowledged that while it works with many record keepers, Manulife John Hancock Retirement is “the first to formalize the relationship in support of advisors and retirement savers.”
“Giving plan participants more choice, more advice, more guidance—particularly as retirement offerings become more complex and markets remain volatile—is simply the sensible thing to do,” said Wayne Park, CEO of Manulife John Hancock Retirement, in a statement.
There is growing awareness in the industry that plan participants would like better, more modern technology and access to more personalized advice in managing their workplace retirement accounts.
Schwab’s 2024 401(K) Participant Study, for example, found that 61% of 401(k) participants felt their financial situation warrants financial advice. Yet, Schwab found that just 35% of the 1,000 respondents currently received their investment recommendations from professional financial advisors. Respondents also showed a strong preference for getting financial advice from a human being rather than computer-generated recommendations, with 60% reporting they were very likely to follow financial advice from a human vs. 19% who would treat computer-generated financial advice the same way.
Pontera’s technology acts as a secure layer, allowing advisors to monitor, analyze and rebalance client accounts without access to client usernames and passwords. Client credentials remain encrypted, and Pontera’s technology is certified under two of the industry’s key security standards (SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001).
“For many Americans, workplace retirement accounts represent the bulk of their savings. However, it’s historically been challenging for their financial advisor to efficiently manage these assets on their behalf,” said Dave Goldman, chief business officer at Pontera.
The Pontera collaboration is not John Hancock’s (which rebranded to Manulife John Hancock earlier this year) first new fintech partnership of the year; in March the company announced it was working with record keeper Future Step to help manage smaller and start-up workplace retirement plans.
Manulife John Hancock Retirement services over 57,000 retirement plans in the U.S. with over 3.3 million active participants and claims over $254 billion in assets under management or administration.
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