BlackRock LifePath Paycheck passes $30 billion in plan assets

BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck target-date series has passed roughly $30 billion in assets across 10 or 11 plan sponsors since its 2024 launch, PLANADVISER reported. Five more plans are expected to join over the next year.

Those assets measure the default rather than enthusiasm for the guarantee. Nick Nefouse, BlackRock's global head of retirement solutions, said the strategy is typically installed as a plan's qualified default investment alternative, so "everybody invests in the QDIA."

For advisors who sit with plan committees, the practical decision is election design. BlackRock built the annuity as an opt-out feature, but Nefouse said most sponsors have wanted participants to opt in, which leaves take-up resting on how often a plan repeats the message rather than on the default alone.

"The biggest hurdle right now is participant education," Nefouse said. "If you hear something one time, you're not going to make a behavioral change. … You have to hear it multiple times in multiple different venues."

Traffic to MyLifePath, BlackRock's digital education platform, rose more than 300% after education campaigns and grew roughly 60% quarter over quarter, the firm said.

Liquidity is the design answer to sponsor caution. Nefouse said the insurance component stays fully liquid during accumulation and grows like any other asset in the portfolio.

BlackRock has also been building retirement-income products for defined contribution plans outside the US, including a protected equity fund for UK pension members nearing retirement, as Private Wealth Daily previously reported.