November 2024
Multiple Employer Plans, Pooled Employer Plans and Startup Plans
In November, we consider the growth and evolution of the market for MEPs, PEPs and startup retirement plans.
Special Coverage
Tracking the Evolution of PEPs
Pooled employer plans have gained traction in their nearly four years of existence, and their use cases are evolving beyond...
Finding the Best Fit Between PEPs and State-Run Plans
Experts discuss which small plan solution is most appropriate for different types of businesses.
What Is Driving Plan Startups?
Providers credit state mandates and tax incentives, but others point to adviser interest in small plans and more uptake for...
Mercer: Trump, New Congress Will Likely Continue Bipartisan Work to Expand 401(k) Coverage
Mercer’s policy lead says bipartisan work should continue to expand employer-sponsored retirement plan coverage, but tax treatment of such plans...
Mapping State Retirement Programs
Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives provides a color-coded map of where U.S. state-led retirement programs stand today.
MEPs and PEPs in the Pooled Marketplace
Although pooled employer plans get most of the headlines, multiple employer plans continue to play an important role in the...
Past Special Coverage
Workforce Management and Succession Planning
This month’s special coverage examines best practices for managing advisory firms advisers, adopting workplace technology and preparing the next generation of leaders.
Succession Planning Beyond the C-Suite
Advisers discuss how they are identifying and developing future leaders across departments.
Next-Gen Advisory Leaders Focus More, Wear Fewer ‘Hats’
Gary Wagner, president of the Carnegie Investment Counsel, shared his thoughts on the need for specialization by advisers.
How to Train Your AI ‘Coworker’
OneDigital’s AI-powered consultant, ‘Ben,’ is not just surfacing knowledge about employee benefits, but a collaborative equal to team members.
Roth and Retirement Plans
Roth contributions are reshaping retirement plans, offering employees options while presenting plan sponsors and advisers with important design and communication decisions.
Making Roth Real
How plan advisers are helping participants understand Roth contributions to retirement plans.
Advisers ‘Playing ‘Quarterback’ as IRS Changes Roth Rules
Defined contribution plan advisers and sponsors need effective teamwork as the Roth compliance deadline grows closer.
Availability of Contribution Options Across Plan Sizes
Adoption of Roth, after-tax and catch-up contribution options varies, sometimes dramatically, across plan sizes.
Roth Catch-Up ‘Playbook’ Can Guide Advisers Through Compliance
Plan advisers can be crucial guides who ensure plan sponsors, recordkeepers and payroll providers understand Roth catch-up contributions.
Roth’s Role in Plan Distributions
The retirement industry can still make big strides to help participants realize tax-advantaged strategies when taking plan distributions.
Understanding Distribution Taxes and Penalties
Knowing how participants will, or won't, be taxed on their DC plan distributions
DCIO and Investment Menu Innovations
This month’s special coverage examines the continued development of the defined contribution investment marketplace, including the products, services and trends taking shape in the retirement plan industry.
The Evolution of the DCIO Sales Model
Investment firms are increasing emphasis on developing relationships with CIOs and others responsible for approved fund lists and 3(38) programs.
Rapid Growth in CITs Fueled by Small Plan Adoption
Collective investment trusts now hold nearly 30% of DC plan assets, rising from just 13% a decade ago; experts predict...
Why Private Markets Are Essential for Long-Term Investors
Two thought leaders from Ares Management, including a former director of the PBGC, explain why exposure to private markets can...
DC Consultants, Advisers Weigh Capital Preservation Options
Unusual interest rate conditions mean money market fund yields—based on short-term investments and debt—are outpacing stable value crediting rates.
CITs Outpace Mutual Funds in 2024
Collective investment trusts continue to win assets at a breakneck pace.
Health Care and HSAs
Opportunities abound to help clients effectively plan for rising medical expenses and maximize tax-advantaged savings opportunities for health care costs in retirement.
Turning HSA Owners into Savvier Investors
Health savings account owners were 22% more likely to contribute if they received practical, encouraging messaging from benefits providers, according...
Maximizing HSAs’ Value
Getting the most out of an account seen by some as a spending vehicle and by others an investment vehicle.
Long-Term Care’s Unexpected Costs and Their Effect on Retirement Security
About 80% of 65-year-olds will need some form of long-term care, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston...
Medicare Awareness Is Crucial Missing Piece in Retirement Planning
Working seniors need professional advice when making coverage decisions, but only 21% of retirees with advisers receive health care planning,...
HSAs Continue to Gain Steam, Top $146B in Assets
Health savings account adoption spans socioeconomic spectrum, according to a survey from the Devenir Group.
Maximizing HSAs: What the OBBB Act Has Changed
Cat Torres, from Sentinel Group, discusses how recent developments have introduced new opportunities for HSA eligibility.
Practice Management
A look at some of the biggest challenges facing, and best practices to manage, retirement plan advisory practices.
Who’s On Deck? Solving the Succession Planning Crisis at Advisory Firms
Advisers too often risk ‘both value and continuity’ out of attachment to the business and aversion to change.
Selecting the Right Platforms for a Successful Practice
To make sense of the many available options, plan advisers need to know what they are looking for.
Deepfaked Fiduciary: The Real AI Threat Nobody’s Talking About
Adviser Neil Plein explains how fiduciaries can be prepared to minimize the risk to their practices from increasingly sophisticated scams...
Tackling Succession Misalignment in Advisory Firms
Three-quarters of RIA and broker/dealer firm owner respondents said they lack a clear plan of succession, which could alienate future...
Staffing Up: The When and How for Retirement Plan Advisory Firms
The timing and process of hiring new additions requires significant attention and care from firm leaders.
I Used to Be Skeptical About Financial Wellness. Here’s What Changed My Mind.
Financial Finesse President Todd Lacey makes a case for integrating financial wellness into an advisory practice.
Managed Accounts
This series explores the growing role of managed accounts in defined contribution plans, examining how they work during accumulation and distribution phases, their availability via recordkeepers, and what predictions experts have for their further evolution.
Bringing Advice to the Masses
When offered, managed accounts can provide a full financial planning experience—from accumulation through retirement.
Industry Access to Managed Account Platforms
Availability for participants is determined by recordkeeper partnerships
Could Managed Accounts Replace TDFs as Plan QDIAs?
Despite target-date funds’ ubiquity, there are selected use cases for managed accounts as qualified default investment alternatives.
What’s Next for Managed Accounts?
Technological evolutions could help the personalized options become more efficient—and more popular.
Do Private Markets Present a Lucrative Opportunity ‘Fraught With Peril’?
Jerry Schlichter says fiduciaries’ responsibilities have been complicated by provider desires to make private market investments available via 401(k) plan...
Artificial Intelligence
The rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence is set to transform the retirement plan and advisory industry, with implications from regulation to product development to participant engagement.
Regulators Urged to Take Risk-Based Approach Toward AI
A recent SEC-hosted roundtable addressing artificial intelligence highlighted the risks and rewards of its usage in financial services.
AI and the Future of Participant Services
Use cases for both generative and agentic artificial intelligence continue to expand, especially in areas like participant education and personalized...
Embracing AI to More Efficiently Process Retirement Plan Documents
Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere, with seemingly endless applications. However, many in the retirement plan industry are still figuring...
Moving Toward AI, Both Ethically and Responsibly
As AI is integrated into financial services, the industry must grapple with how to review and manage oversight.
Bringing AI to Practice Management
Firms seek to solve bottlenecks and streamline opportunities by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence.
Making Decisions About AI Adoption
Firms express cautious optimism about artificial intelligence tools in a recent survey.
Retirement Income Planning
We explore the topic of retirement income planning—from the products being offered and supported in the marketplace, to the regulatory environment influencing these products, to current best thinking—and best strategies—for how to draw savings down.
What to Know About Adding Income to a Plan Lineup
How the regulatory landscape dictates the selection of a retirement income solution—and how advisers can frame the discussion with clients.
Does the 4% Rule Still Stand?
The spending rule has been around for 30 years, but experts are rethinking traditional drawdown approaches in light of longevity...
Understanding and Evaluating Retirement Income Solutions
With retirement income products increasing in popularity, plan fiduciaries must select appropriate options to offer to workers from a growing...
Comparing Insured and Non-Insured Payout Options
A recent issue brief from the American Academy of Actuaries examines the insured and non-insured options currently available that can...
Beyond the Annuity Puzzle: Rewiring the Psychology of Lifetime Income
A closer look at what has been limited, so far, annuity adoption by plan sponsors and participants.
Recordkeeper and Adviser Co-Opetition
This month, our special coverage series looks at the industry “coopetition” between recordkeepers and advisers, discussing the opportunities and tensions as each party seeks to deliver value to retirement plan sponsors and participants while maintaining its competitive edge.
A Dual Quest for Participant Assets
How can both recordkeepers and advisers work with participants, and what should those relationships look like?
What Recordkeepers Want From Advisers
The crux of a good partnership with an adviser is the willingness to work together, including an open dialogue about...
What Makes the Best Dynamic Adviser-Recordkeeper Partnerships?
Advisers tell us what they look for in recordkeepers, from a willing approach to administrative grunt work to the ‘critical’...
SECURE 2.0 Implementation
This month, our special coverage examines the continued implementation of SECURE 2.0. Although the act was passed in 2022, the industry is still in the thick of managing the various provisions as they take effect.
SECURE 2.0 Auto-Enrollment Requirement Takes Effect in 2025
Beginning this year, businesses with 10 or more employees must implement automatic enrollment and contribution escalation for new 401(k) and...
What to Know About Part-Time Employee Eligibility for Retirement Plans
Effective January 1, the SECURE 2.0 Act makes part-time employees who have met service criteria eligible for employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Keeping Up With SECURE 2.0 Changes
Advisers discuss how they manage adoption of plan provisions with clients.
Understanding SECURE 2.0 Student Loan Matching and Educational Benefits
Employers have options to offer student loan benefits to employees and do not need to wait for further IRS guidance...
SECURE 2.0 Provisions Should Boost Adviser Revenue in 2025
Two-thirds of plan advisers say the newly enacted provisions will increase their revenue, in addition to increasing employee participation, according...
TDF Growth and Innovation
This month’s special coverage series considers the evolution of target date funds as well as some of their strongest competitors for defined contribution investing.
How TDFs Are Evolving
Personalizing glide paths by drawing on data from recordkeepers may help lead to better participant outcomes.
Beyond TDFs
A look at some of the leading defined contribution investment solutions competing with target date funds.
Nuts & Bolts: Best Practices in Target-Date-Fund Selection
Industry experts discuss key considerations when picking the right TDFs for a plan.
Catching Up With PIMCO’s Personalized Target-Date Funds
The firm continues to pitch its myTDF, a personalized target-date-fund solution in market since 2023, as a way for plan...
Q&A: Seeking a More Perfect TDF
Philip Chao discusses his near-10-year path to creating a personalized target-date fund investment option for plan sponsors.
TDFs With Annuity Options Set to Proliferate
2025 will likely see new entrants offering hybrid annuity TDFs, while existing players will announce more recordkeeper partnerships and asset...
2024 Year in Review
In December, we review the year that was and look ahead to what’s to come in 2025 in plan advisement, the retirement sector and markets.
Moving Beyond SECURE 2.0
Retirement plan advisers discuss how they’re wrapping up 2024 with clients and preparing for the year ahead.
Economic and Market Outlooks for the Year Ahead
Next year’s outlook emphasizes growth from easing policies, AI and infrastructure.
401(k)s and the Courts in 2025
Plan forfeiture court decisions, Loper Bright’s use and potential DOL guidance shifts are all on the table, according to ERISA...
How to Assess Workforce Priorities Amid Regulatory and Economic Shifts
Experts at a WTW panel recommended employers remain adaptable to workplace demands.
Hub Projects Compliance, Due Diligence, Well-Being Will Be Essential to Plan Success in 2025
The employee benefits provider’s annual outlook also anticipates active and passive investment ‘mirroring’ in plans to mitigate risk.
5 Marketing Tips for 401(k) Advisers in 2025
Rebecca Hourihan recommends New Year’s resolutions for plan advisers.