yellow building block among shiny gray and black blocks Edelman Financial Engines is still in the earliest stage of developing a platform that can be integrated with human advisers to access the more than 1 million plan participants currently serviced on the Financial Engines side. (Photo: Shutterstock)

When it was announced last spring that Hellman & Friedman, the private equity firm that already owned a majority stake in Edelman Financial Services, was throwing down $3 billion in cash to take 401(k) provider Financial Engines private, one prominent industry voice predicted the deal would present an existential threat to trillions of dollars in potential IRA rollovers.

“It may mean the beginning of the end of the giant 401(k) rollover bonanza that powers so much growth in the advice business today,” wrote Michael Kitces, a partner with Pinnacle Advisory Group and publisher of the Nerd's Eye View blog.

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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.