Two academics from the Wharton School of Business have produced a paper suggesting one large plan's effort to streamline its defined contribution plan created potential savings of $20.2 million for participants over a 20-year period, or $9,400 per participant.
Previous research has been mixed on how the number of lineup options influences participant behavior and outcomes, but none of that research has examined how participants react to a substantial reduction in options, claim Donald Keim and Olivia Mitchell in the paper, prepared for Wharton's Pension Research Council.
Before 2013, the studied plan, a large nonprofit "research and teaching institution," offered almost 90 mutual fund options, ranging from equity to target-date funds, to bond index funds, REITs and commodity funds.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
