Empower to buy Milliman’s retirement businesses

Empower, one of the country’s largest full-service retirement plan providers, has agreed to buy the defined benefit plan administration of Milliman, Inc., for $340 million. Milliman is retaining its actuarial consulting business in the health and retirement space and expects to partner with Empower after the sale

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Until the transaction closes, Empower and Milliman’s administration business will continue to operate as independent businesses.

Empower’s legal counsel is Eversheds Sutherland. Milliman’s legal counsel is K&L Gates and Chesky Partners is its financial advisor.

The deal gives Empower roughly:

• 400 defined benefit plans representing approximately 790,000 plan participants and approximately $80 billion in assets under administration.
• 1,100 defined contribution plans representing approximately 750,000 participants and more than $50 billion in client assets.¹
• 100 health and welfare administration clients with approximately 100,000 plan participants.

Empower manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets under administration (AUA) and serves ~20 million participants in 93,000 employer-sponsored retirement plans. In 2024, the 1,000 advisors in its Personal Wealth division managed about $86 billion in individual accounts.

Over the past decade, Empower,  has expanded its capabilities through strategic acquisitions, including Personal Capital, MassMutual’s retirement business, Prudential’s full-service retirement business and Plan Management Corp. (OptionTrax). Since 2020, Empower has doubled both its assets and customer base, reflecting rapid growth through acquisitions and organic expansion.

Two former Fidelity senior executives, Robert Reynolds and Edmund Murphy, have been instrumental in building Empower into a top-three full-service retirement plan provider. A former vice chairman at Fidelity and later CEO at Putnam Investments, Reynolds became president and CEO of Great-West Financial in 2014.

That year, Great-West rebranded its retirement services business as “Empower,” integrating Great-West’s retirement operations, J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Services, and Putnam’s retirement business. In 2019, Reynolds became chairman of Great-West Lifeco and Murphy succeeded him as CEO of Empower.

Post-transaction, Milliman and Empower expect to establish “a strategic relationship for actuarial services and defined benefit plan administration.” The two firms would become preferred service providers in “select actuarial services and defined benefit administrative opportunities generated by each firm’s respective business activities,” a release said.

Ford offer Hueler’s Income Solutions platform as 401(k) decumulation option

Ford Motor Company employees and 401(k) participants in the U.S. can now convert part of Ford 401(k) into a lifetime annuity through Hueler’s Income Solutions platform. The service was launched at Ford in January.

Ford joins General Motors, Boeing, and other large companies that partner with Hueler on its marketplace for immediate and deferred income annuities.

Ford plan participants can use the platform to solicit and compare annuity quotes from multiple insurance providers. They can model lifetime income payments in real-time, and personalize features to fit their needs, a Hueler release said.

An annuity is a long-term contract between an individual and an insurance company. In exchange for part of the individual’s retirement savings, the insurance company provides monthly payments that are guaranteed for life or for a set number of years, creating a steady, predictable income stream. Annuities can also be structured to provide continued income to a survivor, like a spouse or partner.

“The partnership with Hueler gives Ford employees the power to choose what’s right for them, including how much of their savings to use, with no minimum amount required,” Hueler said.

U.S. Treasury selects two BlackRock funds for Trump Accounts

The U.S. Treasury today announced that Two BlackRock iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) will be offered among the investment options available under Trump Accounts, the U.S. Treasury announced this week.

Trump Accounts are “a federal initiative designed to enable a generation of American children to begin building wealth from birth,” the announcement said

BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) and iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) offer diversified exposure to many of America’s leading companies and the long-term growth potential of the U.S. economy. With expense ratios of 0.03%, both funds reflect BlackRock’s longstanding commitment to making investing more affordable.

In March, the BlackRock Foundation announced a $1 million grant to Invest America to support public service campaigns focused on awareness, education, and enrollment in Trump Accounts. The Foundation has also supported children’s savings initiatives, including a $3.75 million grant to NYC Kids RISE and a $1.15 million grant to establish The Early Wealth Partnership, which promotes engagement with CalKids, California’s statewide children’s savings account program.

In December, BlackRock committed to matching the federal government’s $1,000 contribution to Trump Accounts for eligible U.S. employees, helping families begin investing for the future from an early age.

The selected iShares ETFs are expected to become available through the program in the coming months following the official launch of Trump Accounts. To learn more, and to download the app and sign up for a Trump Account, visit www.trumpaccounts.gov.

Security Benefit launches short-surrender period FIA

Security Benefit has introduced its Blueprint Fixed Index Annuity (FIA). The product, positioned as an alternative to CDs, Treasury bonds, and money market funds, offers three-year and five-year surrender charge period options, multiple crediting strategies, and optional index account guaranteed caps and fixed account rates.

“Blueprint is one of the industry’s only FIAs offering Guarantee Period Fixed Account rates and index account caps on a three-year surrender charge period, helping to eliminate renewal rate concerns,” said Doug Wolff, Security Benefit’s CEO, in a release.

“Advisors can create accumulation strategies around a floor (no market loss) and ceiling (rates and caps) with the flexibility of short time horizons so they can adjust client plans as market conditions or financial needs change.”

Blueprint Annuity uses Zinnia’s insurance technology platform, which includes Zahara, a contract administration system, and Zinnia Live, a digital engagement layer.

Options include:

• Fixed accounts offering one-year and guarantee period fixed account (three or five years) for guaranteed growth.
• Three index accounts with caps (max credits) and trigger rates (with index moves of 0% or more) based on part of the change in the S&P 500, which covers 80% of the U.S. stock market.
  • 1-yr Annual Point to Point based on S&P 500 w/Cap
  • 1-yr Annual Point to Point based on S&P 500 w/Trigger Rate
  • Guarantee Period Annual Point to Point w/Cap (3 or 5 years)

Prosperity FIA has 10-year and 14-year surrender periods

Prosperity Life Group today announced the launch of Prosperity PathWay Series Fixed Indexed Annuities (FIAs), issued by S.USA Life Insurance Company, Inc. (S.USA), a Prosperity Life Group company.

Prosperity PathWay Series includes two FIAs that combine growth opportunity, protected lifetime income, and allocation flexibility while helping protect from market downturns:

• Prosperity PathWay | FIA
• Prosperity PathWay Max | FIA with a Premium Bonus*

The series is designed to “help simplify retirement income planning conversations” by giving clients a choice of three Preset Allocation Options (either growth, balanced or conservative), with each option combining multiple index strategies.

Contract owners can use index-linked strategies and/or a fixed interest account.

The FIA series includes three guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) income options offering:

• Earlier retirement income
• Future income growth potential
• Long-term income growth opportunities

There is one income option with no explicit rider fee.

Prosperity FIA/GLWB PathWay Series includes 10-year and 14-year withdrawal charge period options and offers annual penalty-free withdrawals beginning in contract year two.

Prosperity Life Group offers life and annuity insurance, reinsurance, and capital solutions.

Affiliated companies include underwriting companies SBLI USA Life Insurance Company, Inc., S.USA Life Insurance Company, Inc., Shenandoah Life Insurance Company, and National Western Life Insurance Company.

New ERISA fiduciary violation case filed in Virginia

A $28 million class-action lawsuit filed in a Virginia federal court charges that Parsons Financial Corporation and its fiduciaries kept a Nuveen large-cap blend fund in its retirement plan’s investment line-up despite chronic underperformance, in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, by the law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, alleges that the Nuveen Dividend Growth Fund lagged behind its  benchmark, the S&P 500, and experienced significant outflows of cash.

Between 2012 and 2020, according to the complaint, the fund underperformed the S&P 500 by >46% (194.20% v. 147.44%), costing the plan ~$18,200,000. From 2020 to 2025, the fund lagged the S&P 500 by more than >37 percentage points, resulting in a plan loss of $28 million.

In 2025, Sanford et al obtained final approval of a record $69 million settlement in its multi-year class action against UnitedHealth Group. In 2024, the firm and co-counsel obtained final approval of a $61 million settlement in a long-running ERISA class action against General Electric.

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