Plans & Sponsors: archive
Every Plans & Sponsors story in Retirement, newest first. 88 stories
1 story
NQDC's retention case has a comprehension problem
Nearly a third of sponsors have switched providers recently; the survey suggests the retention case will be won on service teams and how well executives understand the benefit.
1 story
Pooled plans are won on distribution coverage now
A $5 billion PEP book and two national sales seats describe the same contest: integrated providers selling pooled plans into the mid market, segment by segment.
4 stories
Edelman takes 3(38) fiduciary duty to the participant account
A phone-and-digital advice bundle sold through ADP pushes fiduciary risk down to the individual account, which is where small-plan competition is heading.
Alight's quietest August in 30 years hides a concentration story
Trading at 0.008% of balances shows the QDIA pipeline is doing the work, leaving plan risk in the funds absorbing 74% of contributions.
Digital experience is now a plan retention asset
J.D. Power's 53-point gap between apps and plan websites gives sponsors a measurable reason to weigh participant digital experience against the fee quote.
Candidly's debt tool rides in on four recordkeeper pipelines
Sponsors get a wellness feature without the build; recordkeepers get a reason to hold the participant after the last paycheck.
2 stories
The Standard crosses $5B in pooled employer plan assets
The July 403(b) launch gives the insurer a test of whether its ERISA 3(16) partnership model travels beyond the original partners.
BofA again sweeps J.D. Power digital experience rankings
Top satisfaction with recordkeeper websites and apps now predicts rollovers and post-job retention, turning digital scores into plan-design data.
1 story
Sponsors hand advisers the menu
A five-point jump in full-menu-discretion requests moves DC advice from recommendation to delegation.
1 story
PSCA's 30th 401(k) Day targets the savers who never log in
PSCA's Sept. 10 campaign hands sponsors a free toolkit to turn automatic enrollees into active decision-makers.
2 stories
Part-time careers exact outsized cuts in public plans
Pew modeling finds part-time careers and caregiving breaks cut retirement benefits more than hours lost across DB, DC and hybrid designs — a caution for sponsors who test adequacy against the full-time norm.
Alight hires retirement-income veteran to lead wealth strategy
Bruce E. Wolfe, whose background includes building Insight Investment's first U.S. retail retirement income platform, takes the SVP wealth solution leader post September 14.
1 story
Fidelity's 401(k) record rests on plan design more than market gains
The average balance hit $155,000 in the second quarter, with 81.2% of participants capturing the full employer match and combined savings rates just below the firm's 15% target.
2 stories
Empower closes Milliman deal, adding 1,500 plans
The recordkeeper now runs an estimated $2.3 trillion across 96,000 plans, with a defined-benefit specialist tucked inside.
Plan churn quietly multiplies the 401(k) leakage problem
An estimated 6.1 million participants a year face a recordkeeper change or plan termination, and former employees are the ones most likely to lose the thread.
2 stories
Deel turns 401(k) recordkeeping into a payroll feature
The API-first rollout with Human Interest and Basic Capital points to a future where the plan never leaves the payroll system workers already use.
HSAs are taking in record cash—and keeping it there
PSCA's 2026 survey found 83% of eligible employees contributed, but only 22% invested—and the HSA's retirement promise remains largely unclaimed.
1 story
The emergency fund has become the retirement plan's binding constraint
SecureSave finds a quarter of workers have already tapped retirement savings; CFP professionals report optimism that stops short of affordability.
1 story
TDF default's young win ends at $250,000
Vanguard's lineup study shows 80% of under-35 savers ride a single target-date fund — and fewer than 30% of $250,000 accounts still do.
1 story
Washington Saves puts administrator and state partnerships out to bid
The 2027 auto-IRA program wants its vendor and partnership strategy settled before the first contribution is collected.
2 stories
A third of middle-class workers plan to skip retirement
A Transamerica survey puts longer work horizons and women's savings strain on the plan-design table.
Custom TDFs should replace the 'managed QDIA'
Two different risk decisions share one product name; Ron Surz argues the custom target-date fund is the simpler, DOL-friendly fix for defaulted participants.
3 stories
Managed accounts substitute for auto-escalation
New Morningstar research shows managed-account users contribute up to 2.3 points more, with the biggest gaps in voluntary-enrollment plans.
Debt has become the retirement crisis driver
A new NIRS survey finds 80% see a retirement crisis, with debt and affordability at the center and AI advice still facing a trust gap.
Rival Companies to buy Smart USA's managed-account arm
The managed-account provider splits from its global parent, leaving Stadion under a CEO-controlled holding company.
1 story
Record HSA participation masks a retirement-plan gap
A record 83% of eligible employees now contribute, but only 22% invest their HSA balances.
2 stories
Succession Planning Is the New Executive Benefits Battlefield
NFP's survey shows most employers haven't designed executive benefits around leadership transitions, handing advisers an opening that starts with key-person risk rather than a product.
ParticipantOS turns the plan's payroll feed into engagement
Freedom Fiduciaries' new system reacts to hires and contribution changes as they happen, giving advisors a personal touch at scale without the campaign calendar.
1 story
401(k) balances rebound at Principal as Roth adoption climbs
Principal's recordkeeping data shows balances recovering and Roth taking hold. The behavior behind the rebound argues for automatic features.
3 stories
Smallest employers are adopting retirement plans fastest, Gusto data show
Gusto's payroll data show the smallest firms adding plans fastest. Auto-IRA mandates and hourly-worker access are reshaping the small-plan market.
SpaceX's record listing shows up in institutional portfolios
Pensions & Investments reports official filings show the largest IPO in history landed in institutional equity portfolios.
HSA balances hit a record. Most accountholders still hold cash.
EBRI finds average HSA balances at an all-time high, but just 18% of accountholders invest beyond cash.
4 stories
Average HSA balance hits record $5,532, and most is still cash
Only 18% of accountholders invest outside cash, so the triple tax advantage goes mostly untouched.
PSCA names three CPSPs as 2026 award winners
The honorees used their credential training to make concrete plan changes, from employer matches to a 3% participation gain.
PGIM taps retirement veteran Yaqub Ahmed for DC Solutions
A 30-year retirement-industry veteran now leads PGIM's defined contribution strategy as the firm eyes private markets access.
Principal survey: AI adoption and delayed retirement
Employer confidence is recovering, but most still see workers postponing retirement.
4 stories
Zero-fee IRAs can still cost savers $1,400 a year
PensionBee's white paper sizes the revenue streams hiding inside fee-free IRA accounts.
PGIM hires Franklin Templeton veteran to run DC solutions
Yaqub Ahmed will lead PGIM's defined contribution push across wealth and international channels as the $1.5 trillion manager competes for plan menu spots without a recordkeeping arm.
Small employers misjudge the cost and value of retirement plans, Boston College says
A new Boston College brief says small employers overestimate what a plan costs and underestimate what it does for recruitment and retention. Its proposed answer is education.
Stone Point and Genstar take equal stakes in Ascensus
The two private equity firms will split ownership of the retirement recordkeeper and fund its technology and AI push.