It's been a brutal week in the U.S. — cold and barren out here in the west. Small birds look for feeders; the larger birds seek ways to leave. The creek has swollen rather than receded as we thought it would. The coyotes have come down from the hills to prey on mice and rabbits who once thought they were safe.

Aside from the political news, in the benefits industry it's been a busy month so far, with news of launches, mergers, personnel changes, and more. Here's what we've heard:

Recent launches

• Freshly launched Advice2Pay is a consolidated billing service that supports group insurance products.

• BenefitGuard has created Financial Connection, a financial wellness site with free resources to help retirement savers, as well as chat and email for its 401(k) clients.

• Advisor Group, (comprised of SagePoint Financial, FSC Securities Corporation, Woodbury Financial and Royal Alliance) has a new brand strategy. Its aim is to better reflect the firm's focus on offering advisors "support, partnership, and protection."

• Beaumont Capital Management (BCM), a provider of ETF-based investment solutions, is offering the BCM Dynamic Global Fixed Income strategy. Part of a diverse fixed income suite, the strategy uses a set of quantitative models to identify patterns in the volatility of fixed income markets.

Acquisitions, mergers, and partnerships

• Cloud-based benefits/ HR software provider PlanSource has acquired Next Generation Enrollment, a provider of benefits administration services.

• Advicent, a financial planning technology provider is partnering with Janney Montgomery Scott (Janney), a wealth management, financial services, and investment banking firm. Janney will use Advicent tools to enhance client service and bolster compliance efforts with DOL regulations.

• Global workforce management firm iWorkGlobal merged with Nelson Compliance. The combined company will provide domestic and international management of workers. Its new online tool MyVista, also launched, offering real-time workforce management in a single view.

Growth

• Worldwide Broker Network, an international network of independent insurance brokers and employee benefits consultants, added new members in Canada and the Middle East, bringing its total number of consulting firms to 109 in 101 countries.

• Independent national insurance marketing organization LifeMark Partners has added a new Broker General Agent (BGA) partner, Colorado Brokerage Group, LLC, a privately-owned wholesale financial services organization based in Denver.

Personnel changes

• Teresa Hassara has been named head of Workplace Solutions at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). Hassara comes to MassMutual from TIAA.

• Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker-dealer firms, promoted Thomas B. Taylor to the position of President of Cetera Advisor Networks, one of its member firms. He replaces Douglas S. King.