NEPC Poll Finds Little Evidence of Industry Turmoil

November 2, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The recent economic turmoil brought great change to the markets, but a recent survey by a defined contribution plan consultant indicates most of its clients and prospects came through the ordeal without undergoing enormous alterations to their retirement plans.

That was the bottom line of the latest "Defined Contribution Plan and Fee Survey" by NEPC, a DC consultant based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which sponsored a Webinar Monday afternoon to discuss its latest findings.

• Average participant balance fell from $79,747 in 2008 to $54,960 in 2009.
• Auto enrollment takeup among NEPC respondents increased from 26% in 2005 to 48% in 2008.
• The number of options in a plan's investment lineup stayed relatively steady in the last several years with 17 in 2007, 18 in 2008, and 20 in 2009.

Partner Ross Bremen said the data included more than 75 NEPC clients and prospects and more than 20 recordkeepers.

Rather than being marked by turmoil, Bremen said the NEPC survey data showed, during 2008, "a continued embrace of concepts detailed in the Pension Protection Act and the Qualified Default Investment Alternative regulations such as automated design features and target date funds."