Providers are being forced to make tough decisions on which advisers they can support.
Most industries will go through four stages of consolidation as they mature over a 25-year period. Here's where record keepers and 401(k) advisers stand.
Declining fees and record keepers pose strong headwinds, while plan design and participant engagement could be boons for business.
It behooves plan advisers to pay attention to their asset-management partners, because advisers rely on them for marketing and practice management support and guidance.
Parts of the 401(k) plan that are currently customized will become mass-produced, and vice versa.
Some asset managers traditionally focused on selling through advisers are bypassing them to go directly to 401(k) plan sponsors.
The rule is a blip for elite plan advisers, but there are a number of ways inexperienced advisers are reacting.
The Labor Department's fiduciary rule and pending MEP legislation may drastically reduce entrenched inefficiencies at the smaller end of the retirement market.
Relying on mainstream concepts is becoming dangerous for retirement plan advisers when working with clients.
Retirement plan fee-disclosure rules from 2012 show that sponsors — and likely participants — rarely read such notifications and, if they do, don't understand them.
