Executive director at Capco Canada makes the case for utilizing tech like workplace portals to help retirement confidence and readiness
Retirement confidence is eroding, marked by insufficient savings, delayed retirements, and increasing financial anxiety.
But where traditional approaches have faltered, Jasmina Hazuria believes technology could help chart a more sustainable path forward. She argues automation and AI can shift the equation for plan sponsors and plan members alike. Not just in how retirement planning is delivered, but in how it’s accessed and internalized.
Hazuria underscores the focus should first and foremost be on evolution of the digital tools already available in the workplace.
“Tools have always been a part of our environment… I think the question is how can these tools that are evolving be better to help enable asset managers, plan sponsors or advisors in doing their day to day?” said Hazuria, executive director at Capco Canada.
As for which tools can be better utilized, Hazuria highlighted that workplace portals often go under the radar as they’re an underutilized gateway for improving financial literacy and access to retirement planning tools. And since employees already interact with these systems frequently, like submitting claims or time off requests, it’s a logical place to embed financial wellness support.
She noted that portals should trigger financial planning nudges based on life events, anything from the need for financial advice when having a baby, to starting up an RRSP or general financial wellbeing.
“Why not use AI to trigger activities that trigger the need for financial advice?” she said.
She sees an opportunity to integrate tiered financial advice into these platforms, starting with automated guidance and scaling up to more personalized, human-led support when needed.
"[The portal] is the number one place you should be focusing on. As [employees] come in, make them aware of all of these other services that they have, from a financial planning perspective," said Hazuria.
Plan sponsors, she argues, are uniquely positioned to embed financial support directly into the workplace. This starts with a better onboarding experience for young employees entering through group plans or employee stock owner programs (ESOPs).
“Their first investment account starts with their company. They should be able to access advice,” she said.
However, that offering is often buried.
“You don't naturally think of investment advice and insurance being in the same place, but I think employers need to do a better job during this accumulation phase because we did a little bit of an analysis around decumulation, and it's usually when the employee finishes their relationship with the company that they start to decumulate their assets,” explained Hazuria.
“If you could just really nurture that awareness and start to provide offerings for the employees while they're accumulating assets, there's a greater likelihood that you wouldn't have this transfer out experience after their employment is over.”
Hazuria also acknowledged that while a wave of productivity tools are making their way into financial planning, most haven’t been purpose-built for the industry. Yet, she sees these tools playing a vital role in helping retirement planners reduce prep time and streamline retiree interaction.
From AI tools like ChatGPT, which can explore client preferences, to onboarding software that accelerates Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, the potential to boost efficiency is significant. And while the cost of advice remains a barrier, especially for younger or lower-income employees, Hazuria emphasized that productivity tools could help flatten the curve, particularly to help shorten the timelines for a retirement planner or an advisor to meet with their client [or employee]," she noted.
But delivering real financial advice at scale is also hindered by adoption gaps, Hazuria emphasized, as she questions the effectiveness of rolling out new technology without first ensuring existing tools are being used effectively.
“In many cases, the cost of implementing a tool is quite high, and you need the return on your investment. But then almost every five years, we go through this whole cycle of having to upgrade it. We need to really get better at implementing tools in a much more cost-effective way,” she said.
Ultimately, Hazuria emphasizes that improving retirement confidence starts with expanding access to qualified financial advice. Many employees, she argues, simply don’t understand the strategies available to them or assume they can't afford the help they need. She emphasized making advice accessible means making it affordable, particularly for those who feel underprepared or under-resourced.
"Someone who doesn’t have enough to retire is probably thinking they don’t have any money to spend on a financial advisor," she said. "We need to figure out how to bring the price down for financial advice."
She points to this being a potential financial wellness issue, one that naturally overlaps with the employer’s existing health benefits.
“If you’re talking about wellbeing from a health perspective, you should be thinking about it holistically and offering services and support for that,” she said.
