Manifest Participant Experience Demo
Manifest is a fintech company that provides a digital platform to simplify retirement account consolidation. iJoin has partnered with them to give participants the ability to quickly find, transfer, and combine their 401(k) accounts.
iJoin and Manifest
Manifest is built directly within the iJoin experience and enables participants to locate and transfer old 401(k) accounts directly into their current plan. Consolidated account balances are then reflected in the participant’s retirement view, providing a more accurate and complete picture of savings. Transfers are completed in minutes with no paperwork or delays, helping participants stay on track toward their retirement income goals.
FAQ
1. How does the Manifest integration work?
Manifest is embedded directly into iJoin’s existing flow. As users set up their 401(k) with a provider, Manifest comes in at the end and asks if users have any old retirement accounts to transfer. Manifest is completely voluntary, and users can skip past Manifest to continue completing their account setup easily. See this demo video below for a walkthrough of the participant experience.
Thanks to Manifest’s partnership with iJoin, there is no additional IT integration needed. Manifest does need to learn a few things about the provider, which varies based on their operations procedures, and can deliver on additional automation.
Behind the scenes, Manifest facilitates the end-to-end transfer by coordinating with both the releasing (source) and receiving (destination) recordkeepers. Once a participant authorizes the transaction, Manifest handles the necessary paperwork, data collection, and provider-specific requirements.
For automated providers, this involves submitting electronic instructions and tracking confirmations through APIs. For non-integrated providers, Manifest works through their standard processes—often involving phone calls, forms, and follow-ups—to ensure the check is issued and sent to the correct destination.
On the receiving side, Manifest confirms when funds are received, either through integration, provider confirmation, or participant-submitted proof. Throughout the process, participants receive updates and guidance at key milestones.
2. What steps are required to enable it for my plans?
The recordkeeper must first sign an agreement with Manifest. Please contact Chad Kohlenberg, VP of Customer Success at iJoin at [email protected] to begin this process. Once that is complete, we will guide you to perform the setup in the ACT dashboard at the plan level.
3. How does Manifest locate participant assets?
Employer name and plan sponsor information are often the easiest and most reliable starting points, as they’re typically what participants remember best. Users don’t need to know complex details like M&A history or exact plan names—Manifest has built processes to identify and resolve those behind the scenes.
For more complex cases, Manifest can also use retirement account statements, account linking, or other personal identifiers to help locate the account. The goal is to collect the information the user is most confident in and use it to drive a more targeted and successful search.
4. Is Manifest integrated with recordkeepers to initiate rollovers on behalf of participants?
Yes, where integrations with recordkeepers are available, Manifest leverages them to automate the initiation and processing of rollovers. These integrations allow for seamless, secure transfers that require minimal participant involvement or manual support. The entire experience is designed to be fast, compliant, and low-friction for both the participant and the provider.
However, full API-based integrations are not required for Manifest to successfully complete a rollover. The platform is designed to work across the entire retirement ecosystem, even where provider integrations are limited or unavailable.
In those cases, Manifest uses its combination of automation, pre-built process logic, and a highly trained transfer support team to handle rollovers manually — still achieving high participant satisfaction and operational efficiency. They have successfully transferred billions of dollars in retirement assets between providers without any direct integration, while maintaining a 90+ Net Promoter Score (NPS) with participants.
5. When Manifest is not integrated, how does the manual service work?
Even without technical integrations, Manifest can facilitate rollovers by adapting to the provider’s required process. They maintain an internal playbook of provider-specific workflows — including paper forms, call scripts, and digital procedures — which allows their system and transfer specialists to guide participants through every step accurately and efficiently.
The Manifest model is designed to scale both operationally and technically:
- When automation is possible (e.g., autofill forms, e-signature routing, account discovery, etc.), they leverage it to reduce friction.
- When participant or provider action is needed, their team ensures clarity, follow-through, and consistent handoffs.
Manifest also uses a scheduled support model, which makes staffing predictable and efficient — allowing them to proactively allocate resources based on forecasted transfer volume. This ensures they maintain high service quality even during peak periods.
In short, Manifest works regardless of provider integration — and has proven its ability to operate at scale, with flexibility and reliability, across the fragmented retirement ecosystem.
6. What is the typical onboarding/setup timeline for recordkeepers to integrate and go live?
Manifest’s setup takes around two months to complete. From the recordkeeper’s perspective, there are two investments needed to make to make Manifest work:
- Operations: Manifest works with your team to understand your existing processes and where automation or a manual process is efficient. The two-month investment from both our teams also includes testing.
- Maintenance: The way Manifest is designed and built with either an embedded experience or URL, providers have little to no ongoing maintenance. Post-launch, Manifest works with their partner providers to market Manifest, maintain the integrity of the integrations, and support the operations team to increase stepwise efficiency further.
7. What are the typical fees for the Manifest service, and who pays for it?
Manifest charges the transfer destination provider a one-time transfer fee. They will charge a base price per transfer, plus an additional, smaller fee for each additional account transferred. There are optional add-ons that affect the transfer price.
Manifest does not charge any setup fees for their solution. If the provider needs specialized help outside of what Manifest and the provider are capable of doing (not typical), Manifest has partnered with consulting firms familiar with their offering and can provide supplemental support, which may bring in additional charges.
For a quote, please email [email protected].