Defined Contribution

The retirement industry is in for a quick immersion into hedge funds strategy.

The SEC is trying to track down $22 million that cant be accounted for.

For every problem, there is a solution. If the problem is not enough people use existing plans, then introduce auto-enrollment. If the problem is not enough participants save enough, then introduce auto-escalation.

An analysis of the data post-crisis found that most of the recent efforts have been a move to either hybrid plans or to cash balance plans.

Forty-three percent of men but only 39 percent of women are saving at study sponsor Wells Fargos recommended contribution index, which measures how many people are saving a minimum target of 10 percent, including the employer match.

Judy Diamond Associates looked at the average scores for 401(k) plans in 20 different industry classifications and discovered a 38 percent gap in the average score between the top ranking group and the lowest ranking group.