Empower, the United States' second-largest retirement plan recordkeeper, has announced a strategic expansion into the consumer wealth management industry with the launch of a new personal wealth division to be led by Empower executive Carol Waddell.
According to a press release announcing the move, the goal is to make money management simpler, clearer and more accessible for more Americans, including the 17 million clients already served by the firm's retirement plan recordkeeping business.
The formal launch of a personal wealth division follows Empower's 2020 acquisition of Personal Capital, a deal that garnered significant retirement industry attention at the time, both for its potential business implications for Empower and for its eye-grabbing $1 billion valuation.
When the 2020 deal was announced, financial planning expert and industry commentator Michael Kitces sent out a tweet calling the $1 billion price tag "a stunning premium for Personal Capital relative to its (strong but not THAT strong) $12 billion AUM base as a [registered investment advisor]."
Kitces said the real story was that Empower was "trying with PC to do what Financial Engines is doing with Edelman — human advisors in the 401(k) channel." Other commentators agreed with that take, with one calling the 2020 deal a "killer acquisition for a relatively cheap price" and suggesting that rolling out Personal Capital's capabilities to Empower's entire client base would "pay for PC in no time."
In the press release about the launch of the new personal wealth division, Edmund Murphy III, president and CEO of Empower, says personalized, comprehensive and intuitive digital experiences are creating "explosive progress" in the way Americans can plan and manage their money.
