BlackRock
Rob Kapito, BlackRock president
- Americans are woefully underprepared for retirement: only 44% have started saving, according to BlackRock's annual investor survey.
- The president of the $6 trillion firm says technology, including platforms for financial advisers and an app that invests spare change in exchange-traded funds, can help mitigate the retirement crisis.
Americans aren't saving enough for retirement, a problem underscored by a new BlackRock survey. But investors said new technology could help them be more involved in saving.
Nearly half of the US respondents in the asset management giant's annual global investor survey said they haven't started to save for retirement, and more than half said they're not confident that they'll achieve their "ideal" retirement. Investors felt too focused on their current financial situation to plan for the future, citing high costs of living, including housing and healthcare, as barriers to saving.
"The reason it's become even more important is because people are living longer," BlackRock co-founder and president Rob Kapito said in an interview with Business Insider. "They haven't saved or invested enough to be able to retire in dignity the last 10-15 years of their life."
Kapito told Business Insider that technology can help address the lack of saving. For Americans who have started investing, 70% said new technology would help them be more involved in their investments.
BlackRock is betting on technology as a growth-driver and has made a number of big investments to address investors' needs.
In 2015, the $6 trillion firm introduced iRetire, a platform drawing on BlackRock technology. It allows financial advisors to show their clients how their current savings translate to income in retirement. The advisor can use that information to design an appropriate portfolio and help clients understand how their choices, including retirement age, affect their future income.
To distribute BlackRock products to more financial advisors, in November, the firm bought a stake in wealth management platform Envestnet, which had already offered iRetire, for $123 million.
The retirement crisis is often more acute for Americans without the means to access professional guidance.
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"There are various investments we make as a company for technology for people who can't necessarily go to a financial advisor," Kapito said. Companies like Acorns, an app that invests users' spare cash, are "popping up all over the place."
Last month, BlackRock took part in Acorns' $105 million Series E round, along with NBCUniversal, Comcast Ventures and private equity firms DST and MSD Capital, which manages Michael Dell's personal money, and other groups.