Empower affirms no layoffs amid coronavirus pandemic

Empower Retirement will make no layoffs for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Edmund F. Murphy III, president and CEO, told the firm's 6,200 employees.

"By making this commitment, we are also making a vow to our clients that you will be there to deliver on our promise to them," Mr. Murphy said Thursday in a statement to employees. "We will need to have the whole team actively engaged to serve the 40,000 plan sponsor clients and 9.6 million individuals who have put their trust in us."

He added, "As the world heals from the crisis, as employers re-open their doors and some sense of normalcy eventually returns to our nation, Empower will be poised to achieve greater heights for our clients."

The Greenwood Village, Colo.-based firm is the nation's second-largest record keeper with $631.7 billion in record-keeping assets as of Sept. 30, according to Pensions & Investments' latest survey of the largest record keepers.

Separately, Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest record keeper with $2.25 trillion in record-keeping assets as of Sept. 30, said it plans to accelerate the hiring of about 2,000 people — beyond the thousands of roles it hires for each year — to strengthen its customer experience, according to a news release Monday.

These new roles, the vast majority of which are financial consultants, licensed representatives and customer service representatives, will be added throughout Fidelity's U.S. locations.

"We have seen unprecedented engagement from our individual clients as well as 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit and stock plan participants, all of whom are turning to Fidelity to help them navigate this challenging environment," said Kathy Murphy, president of personal investing at the Boston-based firm, in the news release. "To ensure we continue to provide this strong support to clients, we are stepping up and hiring advisers and other financial professionals to continue helping them navigate their financial lives."