401(k) Real Talk Episode 211: October 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nRPA specialists want help to scale their practices as plan fees continue to decline while hybrids want support to find new wealth clients and dabblers value simplicity.<\/p>\n
The number of record keepers with scale that can service the $3-$50m advisor sold market is limited – that number is even smaller if advisors do not want to partner with providers who compete with them for participant services.<\/p>\n
NEXT STORY<\/p>\n
Are DC plan sponsors shifting their focus to improving outcomes rather than just providing access? That is the conclusion of the Gallagher 2026 US Financial Benchmarks Report with almost 4,000 employers. They no longer see financial wellness as a standalone service connecting it with engagement and improved business results.<\/p>\n
Tools are being used by 81% of plans followed by 68% offering 1\/1 access, 64% advice and 48% managed accounts.<\/p>\n
If true, this is a refreshing trend that hopefully continues and is not derailed by a major market decline.<\/p>\n
FINALLY<\/p>\n
Though they seem to be led by providers and advisors, plan sponsors ultimately decide what is good for them and how that affects their retirement plans which in turn will drive change for those in the defined contribution industry willing to listen.<\/p>\n
Read my recent WealthManagement.com\/RPA column about what plan sponsors see as their greatest opportunities and challenges based on 700 TPSU programs with over 16,000 plan sponsors and where the industry needs to focus now and in the future.<\/p>\n
FINISH<\/p>\n
So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others that are worth reading covering:<\/p>\n
BoA\u2019s small plan service tops $100 billion<\/p>\n
Voluntary benefits litigation picking up & changing industry<\/p>\n
FINRA\u2019 new marketing rule puts plan sponsors on notice<\/p>\n
Comparing managed accounts v. advisor managed accounts and<\/p>\n
Retirement savers using annuities sue LA Dodgers owner<\/p>\n
Please let me know if I missed anything or if you would like to comment. Otherwise I look forward to speaking to you next week on 401k Real Talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to this week\u2019s edition of 401(k) Real Talk, where Fred Barstein, contributing editor for Wealth Management\u2019s RPA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":897702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":["post-897701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}