2011 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey Sheds Light on 401(k) Fees and Other Key Issues Facing Nation's Retirement Plans

STAMFORD, Conn., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2011 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey, available now at http://www.plansponsor.com, provides insight into trends related to fee transparency, automatic enrollment, participant savings rates and other important issues facing 401(k) and other retirement plans. The survey also provides a candid assessment of retirement plan providers based on a wide range of measures.

"401(k) plans, their participants and plan advisers have had to deal with an unusually large number of challenges and concerns in recent years, which is reflected in the 2011 survey," said Quinn Keeler, Senior Vice President of Research for Asset International, PLANSPONSOR's corporate parent. Among the survey's significant findings:

• Automatic enrollment's adoption rate by retirement plans continues to be surprisingly modest. Another surprise: Among plans that have embraced automatic enrollment, 70% extend it only to new hires but not to existing employees.
• Nearly one-fifth of small plan administrators do not know the extent of their plan fees.
• More than 38% of retirement plans now offer Roth 401(k)s versus less than 21% just a year ago.
• About two-thirds of employees are taking advantage of the maximum retirement plan contribution their employers offer
• The percentage of participants with outstanding loans from their plans ticked up to 16% this year versus 12% last year. This may reflect continuing financial pressure on many workers due to the fragile economy.

"The 2011 Survey contains significant pockets of good news, but there is still considerable room for innovation and improvement," Keeler commented. "Employer-sponsored retirement plans remain the primary source of retirement savings for many employees, and their financial security depends on our collective ability to find answers to a number of daunting questions."

Now in its 16th year, the 2011 Survey is one of the largest survey samplings of plan sponsors available. This year's edition attracted more than 7,000 retirement plan respondents, a 20% increase over the prior year and the annual survey's largest response since inception. Respondents include over half of all US plans with $1 billion or more of defined contribution (DC) assets. Combined DC assets represented in the survey total $1.35 trillion, close to one-third of all such assets in the US and another survey record.

The 2011 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey is available at www.plansponsor.com.

About Asset International
Asset International is a privately-held provider of information and technology to global pension funds, asset managers, financial advisers, banking service providers, and other financial institutions in the private and public sector. Its industry-leading brands include Strategic Insight, SIMFUND, Plan For Life, PLANSPONSOR, PLANSPONSOR Europe, PLANADVISER, aiCIO, Global Custodian, and The Trade. The company has offices in New York, Boston, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne and Stamford, CT.  For additional information please contact Quinn Keeler at [email protected].

SOURCE Asset International