2019 Defined Contribution Plan Sponsor Survey Findings
07/09/2019
The Power of Being Proactive
This year’s research shows the benefits of being proactive, including greater adoption of industry best practices to position more participants for greater retirement funding success.
Success starts with a proactive philosophy
 |
How effective has your DC plan been in meeting the following goals for employees? |
|---|
When it comes to helping participants, plan sponsors with a proactive philosophy find their plans to be more effective in achieving goals than plan sponsors who are hands-off.
HANDS-OFF |
PROACTIVE |
|
|---|---|---|
Achieve a financially secure retirement |
47% |
71% |
Retire at target age |
43% |
70% |
Improve attitude and motivation |
50% |
71% |
Imbalance between philosophy and action
Most plan sponsors feel a high level of responsibility for employee financial wellness (74%) but less than half of those surveyed take proactive measures (41%) to position participants for success.
Proactive plan design is trending
The percentage of plan sponsors offering automatic features has increased since 2013.
2013 |
2019 |
|
|---|---|---|
Automatic enrollment |
43% |
55% |
Automatic contribution escalation |
21% |
38% |
 |
OPPORTUNITY: Highlight the benefits of automatic features |
|---|
Many are overlooking key target date fund evaluation criteria
What percentage of plan sponsors think these criteria are either “extremely” or “very” important?
84% |
Performance |
80% |
Fees |
49% |
Glide path structure |
48% |
Participant demographics |
42% |
How participants behave at retirement |
|
OPPORTUNITY: Align target date fund (TDF) strategies with plan goals |
|---|
Plan sponsors are at their best with proactive financial advisors
We surveyed plan sponsors—those with a proactive advisor/consultant, less proactive or without
—about their confidence levels in plan design and overall plan decisions.
About our survey
We surveyed 838 plan sponsors from January through March, 2019. All respondents are key decision-makers for their organizations’ DC plans. All organizations represented have been in business for at least three years, offer a 401(k) or 403(b) plan to their domestic U.S. employees and have at least 10 full-time employees.