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We're seeing new retirement, HR, and employee benefits tools and solutions that 10 years ago would only have existed in the imagination. Advances in technology and analytics, as well as greater attention paid to customers' needs, are bringing products aimed at helping advisors, brokers, and HR do their jobs despite the chaos and uncertainty of 2020. Here's news that's crossed our virtual, remote desk of late.

Vanguard announced the following changes to its taxable money market fund lineup: Vanguard Prime Money Market Fund will be reorganized into a government money market fund and renamed Vanguard Cash Reserves Federal Money Market Fund; Vanguard will drop the investment minimum of the fund's Admiral Shares to $3,000 from $5 million; and Vanguard Treasury Money Market Fund has reopened to new investors.

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SS&C Technologies Holdings announced the launch of the SS&C Retirement Solutions Digital Plan Onboarding Process aimed at helping recordkeepers bring on and support retirement plans. The SS&C product leverages e-Investor, an end-to-end platform that automates processing of investor transactions, and API technology to automate the retirement plan onboarding process through a single electronic interface.

SEI announced Enhanced CIO, a suite of services from which institutional investors can choose according to the investment challenges they face. These services can include aggregating and reconciling portfolio data, asset allocation studies, risk management, detailed manager due diligence reports and consolidating performance reporting across all asset classes.

Nationwide has partnered with Compassion Society Benefits to offer Caregiver Family Leave Insurance , a new standalone paid leave insurance plan designed for offering either as an employer-paid benefit or on a voluntary basis. It provides up to 80% income replacement for an employee with a caregiving need requiring an extended or intermittent leave from work.

Maven announced a partnership with Emily Oster, author of "Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, From Birth to Preschool" and professor of economics at Brown University, to develop and offer a free, evidence-based tool, the COVID-19 Child Care Decision Tool, which aims to help parents decide whether to send their children to school or daycare, or keep them home for virtual learning.

Judy Diamond Associates announced a new set of features and new subscription options for its flagship database, the American Directory of Group Insurance Plans. The Group Insurance tool is an online platform used by brokers and carriers to identify and contact plan sponsors. Foremost among the new features are modeled insurance premiums, which can be used to assess market-share across a variety of metrics. The new subscription options introduce monthly billing starting as low as $25 a month for access to the database. Judy Diamond Associates, like BenefitsPro, is owned by ALM Media.

Intrado's Health Advocate announced Return NavigatorSM. It includes COVID-19 NavigatorSM  for employer and employee assistance with COVID-19-related questions and guidance; Return PassSM Mobile App, a health status self-attestation solution built on CDC guidelines, and COVID-19 Dashboard, a new proprietary forecasting tool, which provides employers with visualizations of the impact of COVID-19 at the national and local level.

FinFit announced the launch of its employee savings account program, which lets employers  match up to 100% when their employees fund their FinFit savings account. It will include savings and checking accounts, round-up opportunities, automated savings programs, and recommendations for smart saving decisions from an FDIC-member bank. Employers can choose which savings programs they would like to offer, and the level of contribution that suits them.

Employee Cycle has launched an initiative called Thank You, HR to highlight the hard work of HR professionals with a shareable, customizable Thank You message and website.

Blockchange and Gemini Trust announced a partnership to provide RIAs a one-stop-shop for buying, selling and storing digital assets. The integrated solution combines Blockchange's BITRIA Digital Turnkey Asset Management Platform with Gemini's exchange and custody solution. Quantum Capital Management has signed on to the solution to manage digital assets for its clients and to offer digital asset management services to other RIAs using a separately managed account approach.

Advisor360° announced it has expanded the insurance capabilities of the Advisor360° platform, aimed at helping advisors to access household-specific insurance and annuity product details, including integrations to carrier-servicing and in-force illustration platforms. For both variable and fixed products, advisors can use the integrated insurance deep-linking to open or edit policies.

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C.J. Marwitz

C.J. Marwitz is a writer and editor.