Trends and intelligence from across the retirement plan industry.
Lead story
Technology trendCost-to-serve and adviser expectations
T. Rowe Price’s 2026 consultant study (36 firms, 160,000+ plan sponsor clients) found 67% of DC consultants and advisers now use AI to automate research, data analysis and reporting, up from 25% a year earlier. Only 14% are undecided, down from 44%.
On the platform side, Voya connected SinglepointAI to its onboarding system so TPAs can pass plan provisions to Voya digitally, and FIS launched a cloud-native recordkeeping platform, open to TPAs, with back-office automation. Both are available to any TPA.
Advisers will expect faster, data-ready service, and automating census collection, testing and filings gets cheaper for every competitor. The advantage goes to TPAs that apply it across one integrated platform.
The first two are dated. The last two are pending or ongoing.
DatedAmendment workload timing
Required SECURE and SECURE 2.0 amendments follow later RA-list deadlines; Roth catch-up is expected on the 2027 list, with adoption due Dec 31, 2029. Final regulations on auto-enrollment, long-term part-time and RMDs are still to come.
IRS / Treasury, via Ogletree Deakins, Sep 16, 2026
Fiduciary standardESOP plans only
ESOP fiduciaries may now rely on IRS valuation guidance when appraising company stock. The House passed the bill 401 to 14.
NAPA, Oct 15, 2026
LitigationDecision pending
The argument turned on how much content to give “meaningful,” not whether a benchmark is required. The Solicitor General backed Intel. A decision is due this term.
Ballard Spahr, Argued Oct 6, 2026
LitigationForfeiture handling
N.D. Cal. said the theory appears to fail as a matter of law. DOL has backed employers. Encore Fiduciary counts 48 forfeiture suits filed in 2025, up from 29 in 2024.
PLANADVISER, Sep 2026
Where advisers, aggregators and recordkeepers send TPA work. No CPA item cleared the bar this cycle.
Referral channelAggregator change of control (rumor)
World Investment Advisors, formerly Pensionmark, manages about $73B. Barstein reads the rumor as record keeper consolidation reaching RPA aggregators. A sale would change ownership of a major DC-adviser aggregator.
WealthManagement.com, Aug 31, 2026
Referral channelAdviser-led distribution
Across 27 recordkeepers, an average 79.1% of plans work with an adviser and 33.8% with a TPA. TPA use is highest at July Business Services (99%), Capital Group (98%) and Lincoln (87%). Fidelity reports 15%; Human Interest 0% TPA and 9% adviser.
PLANADVISER, Jul 31, 2026
