BCG Blog

We may be excited to be living longer, but can our retirement strategies keep up? New research shows that financial advisors may need to reassess how they discuss retirement target date planning with clients.

Uncertainty in the financial services industry is not something financial advisors can control, but they can prepare for it. There’s no need for something new. Traditional methods of optimizing resources will work well for businesses regardless of size. Here’s how.

For many in the financial services sector, the options for client surveys are clunky, costly, chaotic, or confusing. When it comes to online survey companies, advisors may find that the aspects that drive the popularity of some programs can make them inappropriate for their business. We researched feedback about these customer survey programs to assess the qualities financial advisors were most likely to need. Here are our results.

Major changes to student loans could be coming to an employee near you. While payment options may be reduced for borrowers, plan sponsors looking for avenues to help those participants still have many options.

Employers know that a strong benefits lineup attracts and retains quality employees. They also know those employees are the best asset their company has. But they might not know what they don’t know: how those costs and fees compare to their competition. It can be hard to know what points to look at when comparing plans. Yet benchmarking is essential to plan management.

The prevailing wind when it comes to encouraging employees to invest their HSA funds is to increase education. But that does not mean sponsors have to sail into it. Instead, they may want to factor in sharp rises in health care spending and continuing needs for emergency funds when drafting internal communications.

Lately we’ve noted an uptick in the word recession. It isn’t the frequency of its use that concerns us, it’s the placement. Lately, the use of the word recession has been popping up more in the general media. While we know that talk of recession is a strong indicator of investor confidence concerns, it’s a complicated topic. Getting it right is important.

The Department of Labor (DOL’s) beleaguered fiduciary duty rule lingers on in federal court litigation, but there are signs that the dispute (as well as the Rule) may not be around for long.

Sponsors looking for more definitive guidelines following the Supreme Court’s Hughes decision may be waiting awhile. New court decisions haven’t stemmed the influx of cases, and further FINRA notices may indicate that Sponsors need to tighten their compliance efforts.

The Supreme Court’s recent case concerning plan fees has opened a pandora’s box of options for plaintiffs. Plan Sponsors may want to monitor recent developments and consider expanding their benchmarking plans.