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August 16th, 2023
Insight on Plan Design & Investment Strategy Every Weekday
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PLAN DESIGN
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The Way to Go
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Industry experts say, sponsors should think of their retirement plan offerings as evolutionary. 
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| ECONOMIC EVENTS |
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U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for June 2023 were $2,541.1 billion, virtually unchanged from last month, the Census Bureau reported. U.S. total business sales were $1,818.6 billion, down 0.1% from last month. U.S. retail and food services sales for July 2023 were $696.4 billion, up 0.7% from the previous month.
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| MARKET MIRROR |
Tuesday, the Dow fell 361.24 points (1.02%) to close at 34,946.39, the Nasdaq fell 157.28 points (1.14%) to close at 13,631.05 and the S&P 500 fell 51.86 points (1.16%) to close at4,437.86. The Russell 2000 fell 24.74 points (1.29%) to close at 1,896.75 and the FT Wilshire 5000 Index fell 533. 46 points (1.18%) to close at 44,780.52.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note fell 1/32, bringing the yield to 4.218%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell 1/32, bringing the yield to 4.319%.
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EVENTS
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Let Your Advisers Know!
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The 2023 PLANADVISER National Conference is where retirement plan advisers can cultivate the skills and increase the knowledge needed in today’s retirement plan industry. They’ll learn the latest about behavioral psychology and why participants behave the way they do; get up-to-date insights on complying with The SECURE 2.0 Act; find out how to protect plan sponsors from the latest litigation and regulatory threats; and more. Ask your adviser today if they’ll be attending PANC to learn how better to serve you and your participants
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ON THIS DATE: In 1780, an American force was beaten by British troops, at the Battle of Camden during the American Revolution. In 1812, during the War of 1812, American Brigadier General William Hull surrendered to the British without a fight, leading to a celebrated court-martial, in which he was sentenced to death and later saved by a presidential pardon. In 1896, while salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory, George Carmack found nuggets of gold in a creek bed and the discovery sparked the last great gold rush. In 1948, Major League Baseball player Babe Ruth died at age 53. In 1954, the first issue of Sports Illustrated magazine was released. In 1977, Elvis Presley, known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” died of a heart attack at age 42. In 2003, Ugandan military officer Idi Amin—who assumed the country’s presidency following a coup in 1971 and became known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality—died in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, Aretha Franklin, who defined the golden age of soul music of the 1960s and was known as the “Queen of Soul,” died at age 76.
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| Industry Intel Roundup—Featured Webinars | | PLANSPONSOR is pleased to present the next edition of our Industry Intelligence roundup. This week, we are featuring webinars sponsored by experienced providers in the industry. The content was created to educate, inform and offer ideas for plan sponsors regarding plan design, investing, administration and compliance. |  | | SPONSORED BY: ACI | December 16, 2025 | | Retirement Realities – What Sponsors May Be Missing | | What do plan sponsors believe about retirement readiness, and how does that compare to what participants actually feel? During this webinar, Glenn Dial, Senior Retirement Strategist at American Century Investments, will unpack the findings from the firm’s 12th Annual Retirement Survey. He’ll explore where sponsor and participant perspectives align – and where they diverge – on key issues like savings confidence, market risk, and retirement income expectations. Glenn will also touch on the evolving role of target date funds (TDFs) and how guaranteed income is being viewed in today’s defined contribution landscape. This session is designed to help retirement professionals better understand the sentiment gaps and take action to close them.
What You’ll Learn:
Fresh insights from the 2025 Retirement Survey.
Key disconnects between plan sponsors and participants.
Perspectives on market risk, TDFs, and retirement income.
Strategic considerations for plan design and communication
Whether you're a plan sponsor, advisor, or industry stakeholder, this webinar will help you rethink how retirement plans can better serve the people they're built for. |
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|  | | January 28, 2026 | | Benchmarking Your Plan | | In this webinar, we’ll review findings from the annual PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey. Speakers will discuss ways to benchmark a DC plan to ensure it’s an important workforce attraction and retention tool. They will also address incorporating key plan design features that can improve employee retirement outcomes. |
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| | | August 18, 2026 | | DB Plan Administration | | Besides findings from PLANSPONSOR’s annual Defined Benefit Administration Survey, our panel will discuss trends in the defined benefit plan sector. Speakers will also talk about ongoing management of DB plans—whether closed, frozen or active—and benchmarking DB plan providers. With many corporate DB plans now overfunded, the panel will also discuss ways that sponsoring companies can use their plan’s surplus. |
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| | | November 18, 2026 | | Understanding Participant Behavior | | The PLANSPONSOR Participant Survey examines the attitudes and behaviors of American workers participating—or not—in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. We’ll explore findings about respondents’ participation and saving decisions, retirement expectations and most-valued benefits. Speakers will suggest what the findings mean for retirement plan design, benefit offerings and participant engagement. |
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|  | | SPONSORED BY: Alight | December 3, 2025 | | The Vital Role of HSAs—Beyond a Spending Account | | This webinar will explore the multifaceted value of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for both employers and employees, positioning them as more than just tools for healthcare spending. It highlights the unique triple tax advantage of HSAs which makes them a powerful and cost-effective benefit for organizations aiming to enhance employee financial wellness without increasing costs.
We will also emphasize immediate employee benefits such as tax savings, flexibility in covering a wide range of medical expenses, portability, and the absence of a “use it or lose it” rule.
Finally, we will address the importance of minimizing fees, as even small differences can significantly impact long-term savings. It encourages plan sponsors to evaluate HSA providers with the same rigor as 401(k) vendors and to focus on low-cost investment options. |
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