Tag: Plan design

“They are hiring advisers to understand how well their plan is functioning and how to improve it,” Jordan Burgess, with Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, tells PLANADVISER.

They impact participation, contributions and asset allocation, according to a research paper supported by a grant from the Social Security Administration.

Companies that help retirement plan sponsors with investments also provide benefits to their own employees; in some ways, assets managers’ plans resemble the broader marketplace, while in others they stand out.

Advisers can play a role by encouraging actions by plan sponsors and participants.

Nearly 86% of not-for-profit health care entities reported that financial advice in some form is offered to their defined contribution plan participants, compared to 79.4% of for-profit entities.

A panel of expert witnesses from across the financial services domain discussed shortcomings and opportunities for improvement in the U.S. retirement savings system; they urged House members to embrace bipartisanship and commonsense solutions.

Janus Henderson research suggests the vast majority of auto-enrollment programs fund only pre-tax accounts; this is despite the fact that for younger, lower-income employees, funding a Roth account may be a more appropriate long-term option.

In addition, a person invested in a stable value fund versus someone invested in a target-date fund could end up with a balance as much as 59% lower, BlackRock says.

In the past 10 years, the average 401(k) balance has grown 87%, from $56,900 in the third quarter of 2008, Fidelity Investments reports.

Above-average-rated plans are more apt to be found at companies with 20% to 80% higher profitability than are average-rated plans, says T. Rowe Price.

Sponsors of defined contribution (DC) plans are invited to respond to the annual PLANSPONSOR DC Survey through October 5. The survey is among our largest and most important research project of the year, but we need your clients' help for it to be a success.

According to Josh Cohen, a big part of PGIM’s strategy as a DCIO provider is to foster conversations across plan sponsors’ own organizations, “presenting them with a framework for frank and practical discussions between the HR and finance functions.”

The firm will be presenting the tool to its own network of advisers.

To help employees achieve their savings goals, 82% of sponsors are making changes to plan design, and 83% are updating their investment menus.