RightPath Racks Up $1 Billion

February 9, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - When it comes to retirement savings, it appears that more and more participants are on the "right path".

Standard Retirement Services, a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., reports that assets in RightPath, its next generation defined contribution (DC) plan, have topped one billion dollars.   Since the program’s inception just over two years ago, more than 300 qualified plans have either converted or are in the process of converting to RightPath.   These plans represent a total of approximately 28,000 participants and just over $1 billion in assets.  

According to a press release, 17% of employees enrolling in the RightPath program were not previously contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan – and nearly half (44%) of participants who enrolled in RightPath increased their contribution levels following the enrollment meeting, resulting in an average total increase of 3.75%.  

RightPath Findings

Participants who enroll in the RightPath program (RightPath was launched in late  2004 by Invesmart , Inc., a firm that was acquired by Standard last year – see  Standard to Acquire Invesmart ) have the choice of managing their account themselves or electing an unbiased, fee-based managed account alternative called AdvicePath. During the enrollment process, 58% of participants who enrolled in RightPath selected the AdvicePath managed account alternative.

With AdvicePath, participants’ investments and contribution levels are managed by StanCorp Investment Advisors, Inc., The Standard’s registered investment adviser.   

Kent Buckles, vice president, Sales, Marketing and Advisory Services at The Standard, said that the firm hopes to be able to offer RightPath through The Standard’s group annuity platform sometime during the second half of this year.

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