Investment Product and Service Launches

F&G Annuities & Life Launches RILA

F&G Annuities & Life Inc., a provider of insurance solutions for retail annuity and institutional clients, launched its first registered index-linked annuity.

According to the firm, the F&G Confidence Builder addresses retirement challenges, including volatility and inflation, and aims to find a balance between managing risk and long-term growth potential.

The Confidence Builder personalizes investment strategies through customizable crediting periods, diverse crediting methods, a tailored level of downside protection depending on individual preferences and a broad range of index options, according to the announcement.

“F&G’s new RILA is positioned to be a solution that maximizes growth potential, limits downside risk and offers flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions,” said John Currier, president of retail markets at F&G, in a statement.

iCapital Announces Tool Designed to Build Stronger Portfolios

The global fintech platform iCapital announced that its new portfolio construction tool, Architect, is available on iCapital Marketplace.

With the launch, more than 350,000 U.S. financial advisers will have access to the tool, which combines a “user-friendly” interface with analytics to evaluate alternatives and structured investments alongside traditional assets. The offering aims to help advisers “design portfolios that align with their clients’ return objectives and risk profiles,” according to the announcement.

Architect is also designed for advisers to evaluate the impact of adding alternatives—such as private equity, private credit, hedge funds, private real estate funds—and structured investments, to an existing portfolio that includes traditional investments, including equity, fixed income, ETFs and mutual funds.

Advisers can also fold in custom assets and run them through Architect’s models, allowing advisers to evaluate nontraditional client assets.

The launch on iCapital Marketplace follows a six-month beta phase with more than 300 wealth managers, including more than 150 RIA firms. iCapital also announced a partnership with Morningstar last month, and once the integration is completed, more than 170,000 advisers can subscribe to Architect through Morningstar Advisor Workstation.

CAPTRUST Adds Pontera 401(k) Account Management Tool

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors joined the list of registered investment advisories partnering with Pontera to offer its 401(k) account management services to advisers.

Pontera, which announced partnerships with numerous advisories and financial services firms last year, providers advisers with a secure, client-permissioned platform to manage defined contribution workplace retirement accounts directly, as opposed to using client logins or working ad hoc with them on their savings. Through the partnership, CAPTRUST advisers can look at clients’ fund options, review historical fund performance and set target-fund allocations.

The partnership “boosts the ability of CAPTRUST financial advisers to deliver comprehensive wealth planning and investment advice across client accounts, helping more retirement savers achieve their long-term income and lifestyle objectives,” according to the announcement. The firms also highlighted a 2023 Gallup poll that found 59% of retirees rely on Social Security as a source of income, signaling the need for improved focus and management of supplemental retirement saving sources.

“CAPTRUST and Pontera are united in the belief that every investor can benefit from receiving personalized wealth management from a trusted and unbiased financial advisor,” said Eddie Welch, CAPTRUST’s head of wealth management. “Through this partnership, Pontera’s technology can help CAPTRUST advisers make their clients’ money work even harder across all of their accounts, including their employer-sponsored retirement savings plans.”

CAPTRUST has about 1,500 employees in 90 locations working on three business lines: wealth management, retirement plans, and endowments and foundations. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based RIA oversaw $817 billion in assets, including more than $668 billion in nondiscretionary assets under advisement and more than $149 billion in discretionary managed account assets, as of September 30, 2023.