AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company recently launched Retirement Gateway, a group variable annuity designed for the small- to mid-size market.
"At a time when 401(k) assets are again viewed as an important way to help Americans reach their retirement goals, providing plan sponsors with a full-service retirement benefit is critical," said Nick Lane, president of the Retirement Savings division of AXA Equitable.
Retirement Gateway includes a broad range of investment options, fiduciary support, administration support and service, and ongoing, interactive and customizable employee education and service. In addition to the traditional 401(k) plan, Gateway supports other retirement benefit plan types including profit-sharing, age-weighted/new comparability plans, money purchase plans, Safe Harbor plan provisions and a Roth 401(k) feature.
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"For financial advisors, Retirement Gateway provides solutions and insights to help them build and strengthen their client relationships," said Mark Scalercio, senior vice president and head of AXA Equitable's Employer Sponsored division. "Whether the need is employee guidance, plan design, technology or tools to help them build their practice, the Gateway platform has innovative programs to meet advisor needs and those of their plan sponsor clients and their employees."
The Gateway product line offers:
- Diversified Investments Gateway offers diversified investment options and strategies for different investment styles and risk appetites, accommodating beginners and sophisticated investors. Plan sponsors can customize their investment lineup by choosing from more than 100 investment options, representing well-known fund families and all major investment categories. Options include target date; risk-based asset allocation; individualized investment options; a guaranteed Investment Option with a guaranteed fixed rate of return; a stable value fund; and automatic asset rebalancing. Gateway's investment options can satisfy Safe Harbor provisions under ERISA Section 404(c) provisions, including Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIAs) – the default investment options when employees do not indicate how they wish to invest.
- Fiduciary Support Gateway provides advanced support to help plan sponsors meet their fiduciary obligations in selecting and monitoring their plans' investment options. Plan sponsors can choose from co-fiduciary or full fiduciary services for investment selection and monitoring offered by an independent third-party investment advisory firm. Sponsors receive quarterly plan reports including investment updates, a model investment policy statement, a performance summary, a review of investment alternatives, a summary of changes and additions, and an investment watch list.
- Administration Support Gateway offers sponsors access to a dedicated implementation team to set-up the plan efficiently. The plan also offers a choice of bundled and unbundled recordkeeping services. With the bundled service option, an AXA Equitable retirement account manager and plan design specialist work together to create a retirement plan based on the company's objectives and employee base. With the unbundled services, sponsors choose their own third-party administrator (TPA), and AXA Equitable works with the TPA to prepare compliance forms, plan testing and reports. Gateway also provides a secure web-based automated recordkeeping platform to help minimize recordkeeping tasks, increase accuracy and reduce data entry time.
- Employee education, service and empowerment AXA Equitable has created a proprietary education program to support the Gateway plan. The Gateway education program is an innovative, needs-based system designed to aid the participant's decision making process. The centerpiece is a multi-media online interactive tool that can be customized to the plan and individual participants. Participants can match appropriate investment options to their goals and risk profile, arming them with the knowledge and information to help them work toward a well-planned, fully-funded retirement. In-person enrollers and financial professionals provide additional support to the sponsor and the participant.
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