401(k) Specialist Issue 4 - 2021 - 9

401(k) NEWS YOU CAN USE
Financial Wellness
Programs Score High
with Employees
ACCORDING TO THE National Financial Educators Council's (NFEC)
annual survey, companies are becoming increasingly aware of the
need to raise financial wellness among their employees. Doing
so has many advantages according to the report, which notes
increased employee productivity, greater job satisfaction, and in
today's labor-strapped environment, lower employee turnover.
The survey indicates a clear link between individuals' financial situation
and their work experience, though some of the findings showed
a significant drop from the think tank's 2020 results, a change that
could be tied to the pandemic's influence on the workplace:
* 45.6% have a more favorable opinion of an employer that provides
personal finance education training (up from nearly 45%
in 2020).
* More than 48% say they would be more productive at work if
their personal financial situation were more secure (down more
than five points from 2020).
* About half said they would be more content with their salary
if other areas of their personal financial situation improved (a
decrease of 5.2% from 2020).
" These results are consistent with what we hear anecdotally
from employees around the U.S. People are concerned about their
money situations, and they think highly of employers that make
top-quality financial wellness programs available to employees, "
noted Vince Shorb, NFEC's CEO.
COVID Pandemic Has Been Very Good for
Global ESG Adoption
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC has been very good for global ESG,
acting as a catalyst for the adoption of environmental, social, and
governance (ESG) investing and thematic investment more broadly.
According to Cerulli Associates' latest report, Global Markets
2021: Continued Growth in Uncertain Times, while the growth of ESG
investing means additional regulation and the need for different
skill sets, it is creating new opportunities in terms of both products
and markets.
" We expect the spread of ESG investing to continue around
the world to varying degrees, " André Schnurrenberger, managing
director, Europe at Cerulli Associates, said in a statement. " Over the
past year, we have seen two key trends in this area. One is that both
retail and institutional investors are showing increasing demand
for sustainability; the other is that responsible investment products
have outperformed consistently, even in the face of significant
challenges. "
Deeper scrutiny of ESG processes is becoming more firmly entrenched
among U.S. institutional investors and there has
been broader progress in the country's retail investor and
retirement segments.
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EXTRA
ISSUE 4 2021 | 401kSpecialist.com
9
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© Anton Petrychenko | Dreamstime.com
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401(k) Specialist Issue 4 - 2021

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