News

Bloomberg reports on the market impact of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, which resulted in increased volatility in global bond markets. Voya Investment Management Chief Investment Officer Matt Toms believes that “the escalated uncertainty in Ukraine, and the spike in commodity prices, moderates the outlook for global growth and therefore increases the risk for corporate credit.” The heightened risk means new bond sales will likely shut down for the remainder of the week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Appearing on Bloomberg, Voya IM’s Senior Portfolio Manager and head of Asset Allocation discussed the markets’ response to the January Labor Report and the latest announcements from the Federal Reserve. 

FundFire highlights several recent promotions made by Voya IM, including: Dina Santoro becoming the first COO, Jake Tuzza becoming the head of distribution, and Paul Bernardi, Troy Chakarun, and Hugh Ferry being named leaders of the intermediary distribution team.

Voya IM CEO Christine Hurtsllers spoke with Ignites editor Emily Laermer about how Voya educates both their advisors and their clients. Hurtsellers says it is important for Voya advisors to “have good education, good material to then help their client base.” In order to give their clients the best advice, Hurtsllers says Voya is “spending more time on education and educational resources that advisors need in order to make some of this more understandable and easier for their clients.”

Pensions & Investments reports, “Jake Tuzza has been promoted to head of distribution at Voya Investment Management.” Tuzza will report to Voya IM CEO Christine Hurtsellers “and will oversee all aspects of Voya Investment Management’s distribution efforts, ‘including those tied to the firm’s institutional, insurance, intermediary and international clients,’ said a news release Thursday.” P&I also says Voya IM promoted Connor Sullivan to head of U.S. institutional distribution and Dina Santoro to COO.

Voya Investment Management (Voya IM), the asset management business of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today several leadership promotions and appointments to support Voya IM’s growth plans.

Annual recognition highlights company’s commitment to providing solutions and technologies that help individuals reach financial goals with confidence.

PlanAdviser reports Voya Investment Management released the findings of its third annual plan sponsor and defined contribution specialist advisor survey. The survey “found sponsors and DC specialists continue to share views on many aspects of retirement plan support and service, but where differences exist, they indicate that DC specialists feel their services add greater value than plan sponsors recognize — pointing to an opportunity for DC specialists to better demonstrate their value.” Voya IM’s head of Intermediary Distribution Jake Tuzza said on the survey, “Sponsors told us they are looking to specialists for a broad spectrum of advice and want higher levels of expertise, which again underscores the need for specialists to make sponsors aware of all that they can do.” The survey found “upticks in sponsor recognition that DC specialists help keep plan costs reasonable (93%) and that DC specialist compensation is proportional to the support provided (85%). Also encouraging, Voya says sponsors are more likely to say they understand the DC specialist’s compensation and fee disclosures (73%).” Tuzza added, “Given the results of this survey, there are things specialists can do that demonstrate their value. For example, articulate your value by drawing up an inventory of the services you provide to each sponsor and assess yourself on how closely your services focus on their priorities. We also recommend embracing ESG (environmental, social and governance) in the investment selection process. We expect to see increased demand for ESG strategies — especially as younger employees come to represent a greater percentage of plan participants.”

Ignites provides the transcript for an interview with Voya Investment Management CEO Christine Hurtsellers. When asked about the “tech trends that have most impacted mutual fund distribution,” Hurtsellers said, “It really goes to customized portfolios, customized advice and model portfolios. So one of the things that we’ve done is developed a partnership with a large wealth manager where we provide model portfolios for less-high-net-worth individuals. So think about people that have fewer assets.”

Appearing on Bloomberg TV Voya Fixed Income CIO Matt Toms spoke on the market’s reactions to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s comments on how the Fed is planning to fight inflation. Toms said the market is currently reacting to a “calm, measured” reaction from the Fed as Chairman Powell announced the doubling of tapering and expected rate hikes. Toms said the market is still expecting inflation to be “moderating” over the next few years. Toms believes that while it is hard to predict an exact timeline, he believes the Fed’s current timeline of ending tapering in March and beginning rate hikes is a good estimate. Minus a sharp rise in inflation that would deserve a more harsh reaction, Toms believes the current plan from the Fed is good for the equity market. Toms also believes that increasingly higher prices will push consumer spending down, which will get rid of some of the “inflationary push.”