Executives for defined contribution plans have not one mainfear, but two.

While they’re concerned about meeting participant retirement goals, they’re just as concernedabout the potential for litigation.

PIMCO’s ninth annual defined contribution consulting support andtrends survey found that 64 percent of investment consultants’clients ranked the two concerns as either most important or secondmost important — and 34 percent ranked it as their top worry, morethan any of the other choices.

Beyond worrying about the potential for lawsuits or forparticipants failing to meet retirement goals, sponsors also areconcerned about managing organizational costs (21 percent put thatat the top of their list, while 18 percent ranked it in secondplace); keeping up with their competitors (5 percent ranked itnumber one, and 14 percent put it in the second spot) and meetingworkforce management objectives (7 percent said that was their topconcern, while 5 percent put it in second place).

In addition, most consultants come down heavily on the side ofactive management, saying that it was “very important” or“important” in eight asset classes.

The other two asset classes, Treasury inflation-protectedsecurities (TIPS) and U.S. large-cap equity, were the exceptions.Categories where they most advocated active management wereemerging market equity (96 percent) and non-U.S. bonds (96percent).

Consultants also are recommending stable value (89 percent) totheir clients looking to change existing capital preservationoptions, in lieu of money market accounts, because of regulatorychanges regarding the latter.

They’re wary about using plain old money market accounts thesedays, with 75 percent saying it was “very important” and 23 percentsaying it was “important” that fiduciaries review their use ofmoney market funds because of new SEC rules.Their second choice, after stable value, was government moneymarket funds, which are not affected by the new regulations.

They’re not pushing in-plan retirement income choices that arebacked by insurance companies — less than two thirds advocate them.In fact, they see some strong drawbacks to such options, with 96percent criticizing their operational complexity; 96 percentcriticizing their portability; 89 percent saying they’re toocostly; and 88 percent citing “insufficient government support”from the Labor Department for those who choose them.