Default Investment Alternatives

Every design decision a plan sponsor makes (or doesn’t make) affects plan provisions and what happens when employees or participants fail to act.  For example, in plans with voluntary enrollment, the default is no saving.  Default decisions impact enrollment (voluntary vs. automatic, percentage of pay, pre-tax vs. Roth vs. after-tax, new hires versus all non-participants, etc.), escalation (whether to apply, percentage of pay, maximum, etc.), investments (QDIA, number and type of Core options, defaults when changing investments, managed accounts, directed brokerage, etc.), payouts (in-service, post-separation, involuntary, installments, lump sum, in-plan annuities, etc.)

Target Date Model Portfolios
A twist on the target-date fund approach.
Defined Contribution Insights, Fall 2018

Default Is Not Mine — I Only Live Here.
Considerations regarding target-date funds as the plan QDIA.  
Defined Contribution Insights, Winter 2018

A Buyers' Guide to Target-Date Funds.
A prudent process for selecting and evaluating your retirement plan's target-date fund.
Defined Contribution Insights, Spring 2016 

Are Target-Date Funds Undermining Retirement Saving? 
New research suggests some education gaps for participants about their target-date funds.
Defined Contribution Insights, Winter 2019

Blog: Target Date Investments