Recordkeepers’ Service Models, by the Numbers

Many recordkeepers are moving beyond their traditional role of retirement plan data compilers, increasingly providing financial wellness services and even one-on-one financial counseling to plan participants. PLANADVISER got a sneak peek at its sister publication’s study, the 2026 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey, which polled 36 recordkeepers on what services they offer plan advisers, sponsors and participants. According to the survey, the average recordkeeper offered four service models.

When recordkeepers were asked which support services they provided to advisers last year, the most common responses were:

• Education and enrollment support (100%);
• Legislative updates (90%); and
• Plan design services (90%).

The least common responses were:

• Nonproprietary financial planning software (e.g. eMoney, Money Tree, etc.) (13.3%); and
• Nonproprietary portfolio management tools, systems (e.g. Black Diamond, Morningstar, etc.) (33.3%).

Half the firms surveyed, when asked if they acted as a 3(16) fiduciary, said they partnered with a third-party provider to provide those services.

For defined contribution plans, respondents were most likely to offer proprietary services for sidecar savings (80%), defined benefit plan administration (65.4%) and emergency savings (58.8%).

Partnership-based offerings were most frequently used for payroll administration (76.9%), student loan repayment (76.5%) and health savings account administration (61.1%).

Respondents most often offered participants one-on-one financial counseling for financial goal-setting (60.7%), student loan repayment (55.6%) and personal and household budgeting (50%).

Note: For the following questions, respondents could pick multiple responses. For the 3(16) fiduciary question, respondents were asked to exclude multiple employer plan and pooled employer plan offerings from their answers.