NEPC’s Bill Ryan and Alison Lonstein were quoted in a recent article from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries to discuss our 2022 DC Plan Trends and Fee survey results. View the announcement on ASPAA’s site here.
While the dedicated retirement income solution market has proliferated over the past several years, many plan sponsors have struggled to evaluate their options strategically, according to NEPC’s 17th annual Defined Contribution (DC) Plan Trends and Fee Survey.
This year’s data reveals that retirement income solutions are more prevalent than what is typically discussed, with 84% of respondents currently offering their participants one — most often in the form of a target date fund (TDF) that includes the flexibility to take installment withdrawals as a source of income in retirement.
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“As participants continue to demand retirement income solutions, plan sponsors are seeking trusted stewards to help them simplify what’s become a pretty complex evaluation and selection process,” notes Alison Lonstein, Principal and Senior Consultant on NEPC’s Defined Contribution team.
“This trend mirrors what we’ve seen in other segments of the retirement space — especially the increasingly complex ESG and legal environments. We’ve seen a significant uptick in clients asking for fiduciary training on the ESG landscape and requests for more insight and intel around legal news,” she adds.
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“Off-the-shelf and custom TDFs can have wide-ranging risk allocations, expenses, and best practices for management and reporting — something recent regulation and court cases are looking to address,” observes Bill Ryan, Partner and Head of Defined Contribution Solutions. “As we’re likely to see continued focus on America’s retirement crisis in the years ahead, plan sponsors should be having hard conversations today about their fiduciary decision making and monitoring process for TDFs on their menu,” he adds.
Read the full article on ASPPA’s website here.