More than 800 small businesses in the United Kingdom that now offer a retirement plan in the wake of a government mandate say that the administration of their plan is “routine” or “easy,” according to a survey conducted by Smart, a Nashville, Tennessee-based technology firm and record keeper.
Based on the survey of UK users of its Smart Pension Master Trust platform, the company found that 94% of businesses with 10 or fewer employees spent an hour or less administering the plan each month. Only 8% reported that plan administration was a “significant additional burden.”
Following legislation in the UK requiring large and small employers to offer a retirement plan, private sector retirement plan participation rose from 42% in 2012 to 86% in 2019, the company said. “The increase in participation was very consistent across all participant groups, including those that are typically the least engaged, such as the young, part-time workers, low earners and those working for micro-employers.”
In a special report it prepared for U.S. policymakers considering auto-IRA legislation, the company said that requiring employers to maintain a retirement plan “can lead to a substantial leap in overall plan participation and retirement coverage for Americans” while not imposing a significant administrative burden.
Also, Orion has added BlackRock, Fidelity, and Vanguard to its custom portfolios suite, and RedBlack has set up a new headquarters after crossing a trillion-dollar milestone.
Also, New York-based Legacy Edge Advisors names its first-ever CEO, while Novare Capital Management hires a Vanguard veteran with a multigenerational planning focus.
Asset managers are racing to bring private market products to retirement plans, but cost and liquidity concerns linger.
Treasury's latest tax-exemption crackdown on private schools lands in the wake of a separate push to restrict refundable credits for some immigrant filers.
Workforce trust measures predicted which companies came out ahead during COVID-19. The same dynamic may now be playing out across the AI transition — and the data suggests the spread could be just as wide.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
