Voya Financial expands suite of target date solutions with new CIT blend series

Rhea-AI Summary

Voya Financial (NYSE: VOYA) has launched the new MyCompass Target Date Blend Series, a collective investment trust series trusteed by Great Gray Trust Company. This expansion builds upon Voya's $25 billion target date solutions portfolio.

The new series mirrors Voya Investment Management's Target Retirement Trust and features:

• A participant-focused glide path maximizing early wealth through higher equity exposure
• A blend of active and passive management with fees ranging from 18-20 bps
• Multi-manager framework to reduce investment risks
• Stable Value allocation for reduced volatility near retirement

The solution is sub-advised by flexPATH Strategies, as fiduciary for investment selection, while Voya IM serves as the glide path fiduciary. This launch comes as the target date industry reaches a record $3.5 trillion in assets.

Positive

• Expansion of product portfolio with new target date solution
• Competitive fee structure at 18-20 bps
• Part of growing $3.5T target date industry
• Company manages significant $25B in target date assets

Negative

• None.

Insights

Financial Analyst

Voya Financial's launch of the MyCompass Target Date Blend Series represents a strategic product expansion in the growing target date fund market, which has reached a record $3.5 trillion in assets according to industry data. This positions Voya to capture additional market share beyond their current $25 billion in target date assets.

The competitive fee structure of 18-20% basis points aligns with industry pressure toward lower-cost solutions while maintaining potential for revenue generation through scale. The CIT structure itself is significant, as institutional retirement plans increasingly favor collective investment trusts over mutual funds for their cost and tax efficiencies.

Voya's partnership approach with Great Gray Trust Company and flexPATH Strategies demonstrates effective resource allocation - leveraging external expertise while maintaining control over the critical glide path design through their investment management division. This collaborative model potentially reduces development costs while enhancing product differentiation.

The multi-manager framework combining active and passive strategies represents a balanced approach to the active vs. passive debate, potentially appealing to plan sponsors seeking cost efficiency without completely sacrificing active management's benefits in less efficient market segments. The inclusion of stable value investments addresses sequence-of-returns risk concerns that have become increasingly important following recent market volatility cycles.

While immediate revenue impact remains dependent on adoption rates, this launch strengthens Voya's competitive positioning in the defined contribution market, particularly as target date funds continue their dominance as the default investment option in workplace retirement plans.

Retirement Plan Specialist

Voya's new MyCompass Blend targets a critical need in the retirement market by offering sophisticated glide path management with accessible pricing. The participant-centric design featuring higher equity allocations in early career stages followed by more conservative positioning near retirement aligns with evolving best practices in retirement plan design.

The multi-manager approach addresses fiduciary concerns by reducing single-manager risk, while the hybrid active/passive structure creates potential for outperformance in less efficient asset classes without excessive fee drag. Most notable is the inclusion of stable value in the allocation mix - a feature that directly addresses sequence risk concerns that have become paramount for participants approaching retirement.

The 18-20% basis point fee range positions this offering competitively against similar target date products while remaining accessible to plans of all sizes. This democratizes institutional-quality investment management beyond just the largest plans.

From a plan sponsor perspective, the structure offers appealing characteristics: the CIT vehicle provides cost efficiency and flexibility, the multi-manager approach reduces concentration risk, and the glide path design reflects sophisticated capital market assumptions rather than simple rule-of-thumb asset allocation.

The timing aligns with ongoing industry migration toward collective investment trusts in the retirement space and responds to the increasing plan sponsor focus on participant outcomes rather than simply investment performance. By leveraging Voya Investment Management's two decades of experience in this space, the product offers plan sponsors access to established expertise in an increasingly complex decision-making environment.

MyCompass Target Date Blend Series, trusteed by Great Gray Trust Company, provides the next chapter of MyCompass Index Fund Series; builds on Voya’s suite of target date solutions representing over $25B in assets

WINDSOR, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) announced today the launch of the new MyCompass Target Date Blend Series (MyCompass Blend), a series of collective investment trusts trusteed by Great Gray Trust Company, LLC. The series, available across all plan sizes, further builds upon Voya’s history in the target date space, which today represents over $25 billion in assets across a variety of solutions.¹

“The launch of MyCompass Blend is another example of Voya’s commitment to providing solutions to both our plan sponsor clients and their employees that can ultimately help individuals to achieve successful retirement outcomes,” said Amy Vaillancourt, president, Wealth Solutions. “We’re excited to offer an innovative, new solution that leverages input from respected industry participants alongside Voya Investment Management (Voya IM), and their two-decades worth of experience in the target date space.”

According to industry data, the target date industry recently hit a record $3.5 trillion in assets.² As these strategies continue to grow in popularity, Voya has remained focused on building out its suite of solutions, with MyCompass Blend building upon the firm’s MyCompass Index and MyCompass American Funds solutions (other CITs trusteed by Great Gray) and those offered through Voya Investment Management (Voya IM), the asset management business of Voya Financial. Specifically, MyCompass Blend is designed to mirror Voya IM’s Target Retirement Trust (TRT) which invests in a combination of underlying trusts covering multiple asset classes and asset managers to create diversified allocations for participants based on their retirement date. The series includes new features available to plan participants and sponsors including:

• Participant-Centric Glide Path - A participant-focused glide path, based on Voya’s deep understanding and analysis of defined contribution participants, that seeks to maximize wealth in early years, via more equity relative to peers, and reduce risk in later years to protect wealth.
  
  
• Intelligent Blend of Active and Passive - Combines active managers, who may offer excess returns within less efficient asset classes, with passive managers who may offer low-cost access to more efficient asset classes. This allows for a cost-effective structure with all-in fees ranging from 18-20 bps, depending on the vintage.
  
  
• Multi-Manager Framework - Offers access to multiple managers to provide both diversity and reduce investment risks versus the use of a single manager.
  
  
• Stability of Principal - An allocation to Stable Value seeks to reduce volatility, particularly as participants near retirement.

MyCompass Blend is offered as collective investment trusts (CITs), which continue to grow in popularity within DC plans. The solution is constructed, and trusteed, by Great Gray Trust Company, LLC and sub-advised by flexPATH Strategies, LLC who serves as a fiduciary for the investment selection. Voya IM serves as the glide path fiduciary to the series, leveraging their multi-manager, blended approach which utilizes both active and passive strategies.

“With over 20 years of experience, Voya IM was an early pioneer of the blend, multi-manager target date approach,” said Barbara Reinhard, chief investment officer, MASS at Voya IM. “The launch of MyCompass Blend leverages the investment capabilities of a number of top firms and, with its mix of both active and passive strategies, provides cost effective exposure to a range of asset classes.”

As an industry leader focused on the delivery of benefits, savings, and investment solutions to and through the workplace, Voya Financial is committed to its purpose of, together, fighting for everyone’s opportunity for a better financial future.

1. Voya internal data as of Dec. 31, 2024.
2. Morningstar “2024 Target-Date Strategy Landscape.”

About Voya Financial^®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA) is a leading health, wealth and investment company with approximately 10,000 employees who are focused on achieving Voya’s aspirational vision: "Clearing your path to financial confidence and a more fulfilling life." Through products, solutions and technologies, Voya helps its approximately 15.7 million individual, workplace and institutional clients become well planned, well invested and well protected. Benefitfocus, a Voya company and a leading benefits administration provider, extends the reach of Voya’s workplace benefits and savings offerings by engaging directly with approximately 11.9 million employees in the U.S. Certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute, Voya is purpose-driven and committed to conducting business in a way that is economically, ethically, socially and environmentally responsible. Voya has earned recognition as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere; a member of the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” on the Disability Equality Index. For more information, visit voya.com. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

VOYA-RET

Great Gray Trust Company, LLC (“Great Gray”) serves as trustee and provides administrative services for collective investment trust funds (“Great Gray CITs”) that are scored by RPAG, and flexPATH Strategies, LLC (“flexPATH”) sub-advises some of those Great Gray CITs. Great Gray and RPAG are wholly owned by Great Gray Group, LLC (“Great Gray Group”), which also has an indirect, non-controlling, minority equity investment in flexPATH, but Great Gray Group does not have the power, directly or indirectly, to direct flexPATH’s management or policies.

Great Gray Trust Company, LLC Collective Investment Funds (“Great Gray Funds”) are bank collective investment funds; they are not mutual funds. Great Gray Trust Company, LLC serves as the Trustee of the Great Gray Funds and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and investments made in, the Great Gray Funds. flexPATH Strategies, LLC has been hired by the Trustee to assist in managing the Great Gray Funds. However, the Trustee maintains ultimate authority over the Fund. Great Gray Funds and their units are exempt from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933, respectively.

Investments in the Great Gray Funds are not bank deposits or obligations of and are not insured or guaranteed by Great Gray Trust Company, LLC, any bank, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, or any other governmental agency. The Great Gray Funds are commingled investment vehicles, and as such, the values of the underlying investments will rise and fall according to market activity; it is possible to lose money by investing in the Great Gray Funds.

Participation in Collective Investment Trust Funds is limited primarily to qualified retirement plans and certain state or local government plans and is not available to IRAs, health and welfare plans and, in certain cases, Keogh (H.R. 10) plans. Collective Investment Trust Funds may be suitable investments for plan fiduciaries seeking to construct a well-diversified retirement savings program. Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of any pooled investment fund carefully before investing. The Additional Fund Information and Principal Risk Definitions (PRD) contains this and other information about a Collective Investment Trust Fund and is available at www.greatgray.com/principalriskdefinitions or ask for a free copy by contacting Great Gray Trust Company, LLC at (866) 427-6885.

Great Gray and Great Gray Trust Company are service marks used in connection with various fiduciary and non-fiduciary services offered by Great Gray Trust Company, LLC.

©2025 Great Gray Trust Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Great Gray Trust, LLC and flexPATH Strategies, LLC are not affiliated with the Voya® family of companies.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250331444726/en/

Media Contact:

Kris Kagel

Voya Financial

(201) 221-6534

Kristopher.Kagel@voya.com

Source: Voya Financial, Inc.

FAQ

What are the key features of VOYA's new MyCompass Target Date Blend Series?

The series features a participant-focused glide path, blend of active/passive management (18-20 bps fees), multi-manager framework, and Stable Value allocation for reduced volatility.

How much does VOYA's new MyCompass Target Date Blend Series cost?

The all-in fees range from 18-20 basis points, depending on the vintage.

What is the total asset value of VOYA's target date solutions?

Voya's target date solutions represent over $25 billion in assets across various solutions as of December 2024.

Who are the key partners in VOYA's MyCompass Target Date Blend Series?

The series is trusteed by Great Gray Trust Company, sub-advised by flexPATH Strategies, with Voya Investment Management serving as glide path fiduciary.