Industry Insights

08/26/2026

The Key Message: A QDIA is not a one-time fiduciary decision. ERISA requires sponsors to prudently select it and keep monitoring and reevaluating it over time. The regulatory safe harbor only protects against claims about investment outcomes, not against an imprudently chosen or unreviewed QDIA. The real defense is a continuously documented process, not a past decision. Many 401(k) participants are automatically enrolled or never make an affirmative investment election, directing contribut

08/20/2026

The Key Message: The business model underpinning your plan may be creating incentives that influence the advice your employees receive. As providers consolidate and integrate, those incentives have intensified, and the fiduciary responsibility for the advice delivered to your employees rests with you, the plan sponsor. For most of your employees, your retirement plan is not a supplement; it is their retirement. That reality raises the stakes for every decision you make about the plan. I

08/03/2026

The Key Message: Equity compensation is the point at which your company’s grants become an employee’s personal wealth. At vesting, exercise, and sale, the firms that administer the plan are positioned to capture the proceeds, and the structure surrounding those moments determines whether your people receive advice tailored to their circumstances or distribution built around a platform. For a growing share of your workforce, equity is no longer a bonus at the edges of pay. It is a meani