01 new features product

7. More recommendations for features than investments. Advisors must advise. So what recommendations did advisors make?

  • 84 percent of advisors surveyed recommended auto-enrollment
  • 76 percent contribution acceleration
  • 58 percent reenrollment of all eligible participants
  • 50 percent of advisors surveyed recommended a stretch match

But when it comes to investment recommendations, fewer advocated for them:

  • 44 percent said they had recommended a reset of investment elections to a QDIA/target-date fund
  • 30 percent had recommended CITs
  • 21 percent had touted managed accounts
  • 10 percent had encouraged ETFs
  • 9 percent had recommended investment options designed to generate income in retirement
Most professionals take a positive stance when talking business, including advisors. But behind the smiles are some very real concerns. To learn more, the National Association of Plan Advisors surveyed attendees at its annual 401(k) Summit this spring. "We wanted to take advantage of the largest gathering of retirement plan advisors in the nation to get their sense of their current challenges and future trends," said Nevin Adams, Chief Content Officer, American Retirement Association, and Editor-in-Chief of NAPA-Net the Magazine, which conducted the Summit Insider survey. The survey offers a look at some of the top issues advisors are facing in a changing industry. Here are seven of them.  
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Marlene Satter

Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.