Advisers Latest

The public employees responsible for overseeing $600 million in contracts to build Healthcare.gov were inadequately trained, kept sloppy records, and failed to identify delays and problems that contributed to millions in cost overruns, a new government report finds.

Despite eligibility for cost-sharing reductions, more than 2 million public exchange enrollees did not select eligible plans.

Commentary: Our focus on each item that comes along in the employee-employer relationship blinds us to the bigger picture issues.

Professional services company Towers Watson has agreed to acquire Brovada, a Canadian insurance technology business best known for the BrovadaOne platform, an application for integrating and automating interactions between insurers, and their agents and brokers.

Commentary: Many plan sponsors believe that just by hiring an adviser they do not have a fiduciary obligation to understand the investments in their plans. This is fundamentally wrong.

In the first year of open enrollment on its private benefit exchange, brokerage Lovitt & Touché made some mistakes. But the firm won’t be repeating them, says the Phoenix-based brokerage’s senior vice president.

Having developed robo platforms for retail clients and advisors, Betterment is expanding further into the asset management industry with a 401(k) offering for businesses. As can be expected from its CEO Jon Stein, the scope is grand as the digital-first firm sees a $4.6 trillion market ripe for disruption.

Commentary: Benefit professionals should take advantage of new technology and services to protect employees and help them resolve ID theft situations, says VEBA’s Tinker Kelly.

Commentary: Being surrounded by experienced underwriters and “Excel wizards” is just enough to make one’s head spin, but it is right where Brian Murphy needs to be as he enters the world of benefit advising.

Kraft Heinz Co., which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as its largest shareholder, is pushing some of its retirees to health exchanges as the company cuts expenses.