00:00The financial services industry has long been known to overlook certain communities,
00:04but Voya Financial has been working to change that for more than a decade. We're here now with
00:09CEO Heather Lavalle. Sorry about that. We're so happy to have you. Thank you so much for being
00:15here. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about Voya. You guys are ringing the New York Stock Exchange
00:20closing bell today. Tell us a little bit more about Voya and also Voya Cares as well.
00:25Sure. So Voya, we spun out of ING back in 2013. And what made that so special was we had
00:32an
00:32opportunity to really define who we wanted to be and what our culture stood for. And a big
00:37component of that was leaning in in support of the special needs community, which we started back in
00:422016. So really a decade ago to celebrate this important milestone and our commitment to inclusion
00:48for this community. Why was it so important to bake that in? We've talked about a lot of
00:53companies kind of check a box or they throw, you know, a couple dollars in a couple years at some
00:58initiative. But why did you want to make this something that really is part of Voya?
01:02So for us, this started with my predecessor who had a senior leadership meeting. And one day we were
01:09talking about the needs of this community. And we realized important statistics like one in three
01:13households are going to be impacted by a special needs. You think about one in four Americans serves as a
01:19caregiver. And yet there is such an unmet financial need. And most people don't even understand the need
01:25that exists. And so for us as a financial services company, where we thought, how could we bring our
01:30investment expertise, our planning expertise to life? And so we often say it was the perfect
01:35intersection between our expertise and our culture as an organization.
01:39It makes sense to kind of build all that together and really bake it into the company. What is it
01:44that you guys have
01:44found from your research that was really creating that gap where these people couldn't get financial
01:49services help?
01:51So part of it started with awareness. And so for Voya, we tend to serve customers through the workplace. So
01:56you think about employers. And most employers back at the time didn't even realize that employees in their
02:03population were caregivers or had a disability themselves. The second piece of it was people didn't
02:10realize that the financial planning needs are complicated. So for example, if somebody has a
02:15disability and they're getting government assistance benefits, if they have too much in their savings, they
02:20could lose those benefits. So there is complexities around it. So it starts with awareness. You've got to
02:25understand the need and understand how do we address that really through education and then bringing the
02:30right solutions to bear for our customers.
02:33It's incredible to think about bringing all these people together to get these services that they're missing
02:38out on. What is the best way that you guys have found to do that outreach and actually bring people
02:42in?
02:43So part of it is, again, we've done a lot of white papers and research to, again, start with the
02:48awareness aspect of it. But the other thing we've done, two different things. Number one, for our
02:53customers, we've embedded this across our digital experience. We have financial advisors that we provide
02:59special needs financial training and certification for them. And we are very active with our clients
03:05talking about the need within their workforce. So that is a really important component. But the
03:10second is hearing from our own employees. So when we started this, we created an employee resource
03:16group who said, you know what, start with us, understand our needs. And so they help bring those
03:21needs to life for us every single day.
03:23Yeah. Tell us about Voya's ABLE accounts. What does that mean? And how does that impact people?
03:28Yeah. So ABLE accounts, they're really, they're a 529 plan. So it is a savings vehicle
03:33that are sponsored through government and through state-run ABLE programs. So for us, ABLE program
03:39was, was first making sure that people in the disability community even understood that it was
03:44a vehicle that is going to allow them to save without jeopardizing their SSI benefits or Medicaid.
03:50So that was first. The second was helping employers understand that for their employees in the
03:56workforce, it's going to be a great alternative to them contributing to a 401k plan. So again, it goes
04:01back to education awareness. And we think that that's something we can bring through the reach
04:06that we have in serving our clients and our own employees.
04:10It's incredible to think all you guys have done for 10 years now with Voya Cares, right?
04:14Tell us a little bit about the successes that you've had. How has this gone? It must be pretty
04:18well if it's going on for a decade now.
04:20Yeah. So one of the reasons that I think it's been so successful is because it created a groundswell
04:24on the organization. One of the unintended benefits when we leaned into the special needs
04:29community was having our own employees self-identify where they were a caregiver or if they were
04:34having their own disability or, or a loved one. And so that awareness was something that it created
04:40this energy that, that we now have this awareness. We have people that are so incredibly passionate.
04:46What I often will say is our employees are not just serving our customers, they are customers
04:51of this. And so for us, that sustainability, because we know who we're serving in a very intimate
04:57way, I think it's made a difference for us now carrying this into the next decade, which
05:02is one of the reasons we're here today.
05:03Yeah. So exciting to be ringing that bell today and celebrating all of this success.
05:07When you think about helping these people, that's obviously a wonderful benefit to have.
05:11What about the actual business side of it? Some people might say, well, is this really a
05:15smart business decision? So tell us a little bit about that.
05:18Yeah. So I'll hit three things. So number one, when you think about employees or caregivers,
05:23often if the employer is showing up with a better benefit program or education, they are going to
05:28be more productive and so loyal to that, that employer. So the retention aspect, key talent is
05:33important. The second is helping people in their time of need. So being able to provide things like
05:39need management, access to a financial planner is so critical because if you can address those needs,
05:45you can take a major stress off somebody's day when they're, they're trying to juggle things to
05:51being a caregiver or providing work at the same time. So again, I'm going to bring it back to
05:55awareness of really being able to serve our clients and allowing them to be their best selves with
06:00their employer. That's really the magic and all of that. Amazing. And thinking about the challenges
06:05you guys have faced with this, obviously it's something that most institutions are not doing.
06:10And so what have been the big challenges that you guys have had to work through to have the
06:14success you're having now? So one of it is just making sure we keep this front and center.
06:18So we talk about there's, you know, there's so much news that are coming at people.
06:22We've got to make sure that we can get through to the audiences. We've got to make sure as we're
06:27bringing in new employees into Boyer, we're constantly training them on the importance of
06:31how do we serve the employees within the disability community or their caregivers. And I think the other,
06:38the other big component of this is just, it is something around having the right statistics that people,
06:44you know, makes it relevant. But the final bit is storytelling. If we can talk about how we are
06:50making a difference in the lives of a family or somebody caring for an aging parent, that really
06:56makes the difference and brings the power to it. It's amazing thinking about what you have accomplished
07:00in the last 10 years. As you look to the end of this year and the next 10 years, what
07:04do you think
07:05is going to change with the program and what do you hope to see happen?
07:07So I think I'd say two things. Number one is today, so many Americans do not have access to
07:13a financial advisor. And so that's a big component for us as we build out our wealth management business,
07:19making access for two financial providers and education much more paramount. Leaning in,
07:25the second is leaning into employers. That's where most Americans get access to planning and benefit.
07:30And so the employers is a key resource for that education. And finally is digital and personalization.
07:37We can now bring more things to life through a very flexible digital environment than we could
07:42have a decade ago. So those are the three things we're going to need.
07:45Yeah, it's so exciting to think about what's next for Voya. Also, what do you think is next for the
07:50whole industry? Do you think that the financial services industry is taking note and that in general,
07:55this will get better? Or is it going to just be Voya out there doing all that?
08:00The great news is there's a lot that are leaning in and we partner a lot with not-for-profits
08:04for the awareness aspect of it. What I would say in the last 10 years, there's so much more awareness
08:09for employers to understand the population that is inside their workforce. But there still is a lot
08:16of work yet to do. We find that a lot of individuals with disabilities still feel discriminated with
08:21financial advisors. They don't feel as though they have the right access. So that's really that
08:25next hurdle we're going to tackle is to be able to do the education, to be able to address the
08:31discrimination. And to me, at the end of the day, this is all about inclusion and full
08:35accessibility. And it lifts up. I believe that it raises the tides of it for everyone.
08:41It's incredible. Thank you so much for being here, Heather LaValle. We really appreciate all
08:45of your time and congratulations again on ringing the closing bell today.
08:48Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Comments