Retirement benefits

Investors who relied on professional help in the form of target-date funds, managed accounts and advice earned nearly three percentage points more than those that did not, according to an analysis of eight large defined contribution plans between 2006 and 2010 by Aon Hewitt and Financial Engines. The plans covered 400,000 participants with $25 billion in assets.

Fidelity Investments announced Wednesday it has received commitments for an additional $17 billion in 401(k) assets under management from 269 plans representing 315,000 participants. More than $15 billion of those assets are due to new sales, with the remaining $2 billion the result of mergers and acquisitions by existing clients.

GuidedChoice has created a retirement plan “reality check” for participants to see how well prepared they are for retirement and how much income their savings will produce. The program also guides them to save more and offers access to professional advice.

Invesco has launched the PlanForward Consulting Series, aimed at helping 401(k) advisers and consultants “build a compelling value proposition and enhance their brand recognition.”

Vanguard has announced it will pursue the small 401(k) market, i.e. plans with less than $20 million in assets and fewer than 1,000 employees, with low-cost, bundled plans administered by Ascensus.

A recent survey of 3,300 working Americans conducted by Putnam Investments disclosed that American households are on track to replace only about 64% of their current income in retirement -- significantly less than the 75% of income that most financial professionals recommend.

At a time when jobs are hard to find and raises are paltry, employers are looking to their 401(k) plans to better serve their workers.

401(k) investors and sponsors are likely to stand up and take notice of the fees that will be clearly presented to them in April, particularly the fact that investors pay most of the administration fees. These administration fees, or expense ratios, cover not just fund management but also recordkeeping, auditing and broker commissions.

In light of the recent market volatility, a new report from Fidelity Investments analyzing the performance of 401(k) balances between Oct. 1, 2008 and June 30, 2011 is quite telling—giving a testimonial to the value of sticking with the stock market even amid the worst declines.

Forty-two percent of workers are living paycheck to paycheck, down slightly from the 43% who were in this financial state in 2010, CareerBuilder found in a survey of 5,200 workers. This 42% level is at pre-recession levels, indicating that while incremental, household finances are improving.

Rather than offer the complete lineup of a target-date series in their 401(k) plan, sponsors are selecting only those funds that fit the age and demographics of their employees. This could result in under-funded target-date funds that could put the entire lineup in jeopardy, according to a new report, “Trends in Date-Date Portfolios on Recordkeeper Platforms,” from Financial Research Corp.

BlackRock has added 10 index funds to its retirement platform, nine of them the target-date BlackRock LifePath Index Portfolios and the 10ths the All Country World Index ex-U.S. Fund. The new LifePath Index Portfolios extend the investment horizon out by 44 years, with the funds having target dates of 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, 2050 and 2055.

Securian Retirement has added 12 investment choices to its retirement platform, including funds from AllianceBernstein, Nuveen, Manning & Napier and Pax World. With these additions, the platform how offers an array of 120 investments for participants and plan sponsors.

The Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association has issued a report calling on employers to limit leakage from 401(k) plans, “Plug the Drain: 401(k) Leakage and the Impact on Retirement.”

MassMutual has made a number of enhancements to its RetireSMART target-date and lifecycle funds, most notably adding mutual fund options to its target-date series. Previously, only separately managed accounts through a group annuity contract were offered as target-date funds.

Most target-date funds are not as diversified as they could be, and particularly as they increase in popularity in 401(k) plans, their design needs to be revisited, according to Folio Investing.

Fifty-five percent of 401(k) participants say they would not be saving for retirement if it were not for their workplace savings plan, Fidelity Investments found in a survey of 1,000 participants and retirees. Additionally, 19% say they have no retirement savings outside of their 401(k) plan.

Lincoln Trust Company has introduced the Personalized Expense Ratio for the 401(k) plans that it administers. The ratio is designed for participants, plan sponsors and advisers to see the actual cost of their plans without having to perform calculations themselves.

John Hancock Financial Network already serves 2,000 financial advisers and independent broker-dealers who do business with 401(k) plans across the United States, to date, John Hancock's 401(k) support has been limited to access to asset managers. Further, John Hancock never branded its name on its defined contribution platform, instead allowing advisers to use their own.

American workers lapsed into investing inertia after the market collapsed in 2008, but standing still actually benefited many and helped their workplace retirement plan balances rebound by 31% between 2007 and 2010, Vanguard said.