In a sign that “financial wellness” is gaining more traction, employers using the Prudential Financial platform will now be able to provide employees with tools for managing student loan debt, navigating job changes, and developing “a personalized financial roadmap,” according to a company announcement. A service providing “coaching” for responsible financial behavior is also being piloted, with a broad-market release planned later in the year. The firm’s existing financial wellness capabilities have been available since 2017 and are offered to more than 7 million individuals across more than 3,000 organizations, according to company figures. Prudential Pathways, the firm’s financial education program, tallies just shy of 600 employers and has been around since 2012.
The latest wellness solutions will now include LINK by Prudential, a digital, interactive goals-based advice module. Users of the module can integrate existing Prudential retirement accounts and non-Prudential financial accounts, utilizing Envestnet services to provide a more thorough picture of their finances. The service leads up to a free remote or in-person consultation via Prudential Customer Solutions, LLC, the firm’s RIA, but employees can be self-guided as well.
The firm’s student loan management solution, called Student Loan Assistance, in an online feature offered in partnership with Vault, formerly called Student Loan Genius. Vault’s investors include Prudential Financial and Vestigo Ventures, a VC firm whose co-founders include David Blundin (co-founder of Vestmark) and Mark Casady (former CEO of LPL Financial).
In addition to the financial coaching solution, which is still being piloted, Prudential is also offering PruPassages, its job transition service. When an employee switches jobs, a representative from Prudential Advisors “proactively” offers assistance with life insurance coverage, along with a “complimentary evaluation of their financial needs,” according to the announcement.
“We all face pivotal financial decisions throughout our lives, when the choices we make have the potential to either put us on a track toward financial health or derail us,” said Judy Dougherty, Prudential’s recently appointed chief financial wellness officer, in a statement. “This insight has guided our work on new solutions that are designed to be as in sync as possible with our customers’ lives.”