January 2025
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.
Special Coverage
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...
Past Special Coverage
Lifecycle of Financial Advice
How retirement plan advisers tailor advice across generations and prepare for generational wealth transfers.
How to Build on Gen Z, Millennial Interest in Retirement Planning
If advisers engage early and authentically, they can build lasting relationships with up-and-coming asset owners.
The Retirement Vision for Clients Without Children
A financial planner discusses the specific planning needs of adults without children.
Advising Generations, by the Numbers
A Nationwide study found advisers were willing to facilitate family financial discussions that clients often reported avoiding.
Practice Management
Gain insight into how retirement plan advisers are strategizing their advisory practices’ growth, efficiency and seamless succession.
Modern Succession Planning: Less Transactional, More Emotional IQ
As advisory firms increasingly invest in artificial intelligence, experts say the next generation of leaders will have to remain human-centered.
Plan Management, by the Numbers
Nearly one-quarter of surveyed plan sponsors last renegotiated fees with their current adviser more than 5 years ago.
Entering the Era of Hyper-Personalization
Artificial intelligence is turning the advisory goal of scalable, individualized financial planning into a reality.
How to Recruit Next-Gen Advisers
As departing advisers far outnumber new hires, firm leaders and recruiters have become strategic in capturing attention from incoming talent.
Top-Rated RIA Firms Often Trail in Brand Originality, per Study
An assessment of financial advisory firms’ branding found that about 40% used website copy that lacks distinction, a communication firm...
The Right Mindset for Organic Growth
Marketing and psychology know-how can help advisers gain more clients, according to growth strategists Dan Allison and David DeCelle.
Health Care and Holistic Benefits Advising
Retirement plan advisers help participants prepare for future medical needs and educate plan sponsors on the fiduciary requirements of health plans.
22% of ERISA Lawsuits in 2025 Involved Health Plans
Analysis by Encore Fiduciary breaks down financial outcomes and trends to watch from ERISA court cases.
Long-Term Care Planning, Without the Emotional Charge
Even when advisers know the importance of preparing for such health care costs, they may lack the confidence to address...
How Advisers Can Help Businesses Address Caregiving Needs
The surge of unpaid caregiving is leading to labor turnover and decreased retirement readiness.
Increased Scrutiny of Health Plans Leaves Advisers Racing to Keep Up
Congress’ recent appropriations act and proposed Department of Labor guidance both push for greater transparency from pharmacy benefit managers.
Financial Wellness Inextricably Linked to Employee Wellness
Employees who lack financial wellness benefits and advice from their employers are more likely to experience burnout and job turnover.
How Retirement Fiduciaries Can Help Health Plan Fiduciaries
Advisers’ deep knowledge of the fiduciary process can aid employers making sense of new disclosures from pharmacy benefit managers.
Artificial Intelligence
As artificial intelligence continues to disrupt the retirement advisory space, firms are integrating AI-driven information and navigating technological, ethical and practical concerns.
Why Data Security Is a ‘Shared Responsibility’ for Advisers
Artificial intelligence raises the stakes in the ongoing responsibility to monitor data access and review third-party vendors.
Advisers Using AI, by the Numbers
While 87% of surveyed advisers said they planned to use artificial intelligence-powered tools in the following 12 months, accuracy remained...
Past the Bots: How to Implement AI for Efficiency
Now that generative artificial intelligence tools have been widely implemented in retirement planning, experts suggest advisers turn to embedded AI...
AI: From ‘in the Loop’ to in Control
Artificial intelligence’s rapid advancement presents ongoing occasions for financial advisers to assess its ethical use and best practices.
How Advisers Can Improve AI Prompts
The effectiveness of artificial intelligence often depends on the quality of one’s prompts and following proper guidelines.
How AI Is Changing Fund Management
Artificial intelligence is impacting all facets of advisers’ work, right down to the explanations they share with clients.
Retirement Income Planning
From managed accounts to insurance products to distribution options—here are some strategies and solutions advisers use to secure lasting retirement income for their clients.
Simplifying Annuities Could Lead to Increased Take-Up
Guaranteed streams of income may seem a ‘no-brainer’ for retirees and sponsors, but hesitation to embrace one form of guaranteed...
How Income Floors Save Retirees From Underspending
Underspending is a common habit among retirees, but a minimum income with additional guaranteed sources can help retirees overcome fear...
Expanded ABLE Account Eligibility Could Provide New Source of Retirement Income
Thanks to SECURE 2.0, people with disabilities acquired before age 46 can potentially take advantage of the savings account vehicles...
Longevity Risk Requires Accurate Measurements, Adequate Solutions
Advisers can guide clients to find appropriate income options for a potentially lengthy retirement.
Guaranteed Income in Target-Date Portfolios Boosts Retirement Spending
Target-date portfolios with guaranteed income could effectively manage retirement risks, according to BlackRock and TIAA.
Retirement Income Strategies, by the Numbers
Nearly half of 2025 PLANSPONSOR Plan Participant Survey participants reported having less than $100,000 in total retirement savings.
2025 Year in Review
This month’s special coverage series reviews impactful developments and growing trends from this year that are influencing the retirement plan advisory space.
Private Markets for DC Plans: Evolution or Revolution?
Workers deserve diversified portfolios for their defined contribution plans, according to financial commentator Anne Lester, who identified adding private assets...
PE Drives Multiple Advisory M&A Records in 2025
Aging advisory firm owners are relying on mergers and acquisitions to determine the next phase of their practices.
A New Age for PEPs
Pooled employer plans have grown significantly over the last four years, as larger employers are increasingly drawn to the plans’...
Nuts & Bolts: Where Advisers Can Start With AI
Advisers can turn their reluctance to use artificial intelligence into self-assured exploration of time-saving tools.
Preparing for 2026 ERISA Plan Compliance
A calendar to help plan fiduciaries track important due dates for their retirement plans, given annual updates and changes.
Getting Gen X Back on Track for Retirement
As the first members of Generation X enter their 60s, experts recommend they reevaluate their savings and consider a ‘second...
Workforce Management and Succession Planning
This month’s special coverage examines best practices for managing 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.
Do Advisers Ignore AI at Their Peril?
Strategic Retirement Partners’ Jeff Cullen talks about how to use the technology in plan practices, during a PLANADVISER 360 Conference...
National Practices, Local Advisers
Centralized support teams and regional advisory offices are finding ways to balance best practices with customized workflows.
Turning Family Bonds Into Advisory Firm Continuity
Parents and children who work in the same retirement plan practice find strength in numbers.
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.