Small retirement plans are on the precipice of having options. State mandates supporting employee retirement plans have brought a spotlight to the importance of 401(k) plans. Should employees anticipate wealth advisors who have relationships with business owners or managers who may be in a position to make a difference with company savers and 401(k) participants?
Historically, that target audience was considered the domain of the retirement plan advisor. However, retirement plan specialists may be left-out with the convergence of wealth, health and retirement.
Will the retirement plan industry work to entice the hundreds of thousands of wealth advisors that currently exist? Those advisors make-up professionals who dabble in retirement plans – but to this point, they have demonstrated no interest in specialization.
Deterrents for the private wealth managers to enter the qualified plan arena include regulations, liability and potential fiduciary concerns. Clearly, startups and small plans with low assets, are rarely viewed as desirable accounts.
The question becomes – Might record-keepers, with low distribution costs, step in to fill the void? Read this article from Wealthmanagement.com for more solutions.
