Inflation, more DEI and figuring out relationships: Twitter chat talks what to expect in 2022

With the world cartwheeling into 2022, the retirement industry, too, sees more challenges and changes in the future. To chart a course for the year ahead, leaders in the defined contribution field gathered Dec. 8 for a Twitter chat titled “401(k) Trends and Opportunities 2022.”

Panelists sharing their valuable insights were Bonnie Treichel of Endeavor Retirement, Andrew Meadows of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, Uche Enemchukwu of Nelu Diversified Consulting Solutions, April Rudin of The Rudin Group and Chuck Hammond of The 401k Study Group. BenefitsPRO organized and moderated the talk on its @Benefits_PRO Twitter page.

Questions posed in the chat covered what challenges and changes will be faced by advisors, sponsors and plan participants in the coming year, the impact of heightened diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on how plan sponsors and advisors think, and inflation, lifetime income, advisor relationships and pending or potential regulatory changes.

As for what challenges advisors can expect, Rudin highlighted one of the most universal factors: technology. “Keeping up with technology, plan changes and more tech-driven financial wellness tools integrated into the plans while continuing in hybrid client engagement model,” she tweeted.

Meadows tied together technology with the COVID-19 pandemi and advisor relationships. “Since the pandemic, engagement with advisors has certainly changed, especially those who would typically come on site,” he said on Twitter.

On the DE&I question, Enemchukwu spoke about the growing influence of workers’ and consumers’ DE&I demands on corporate decision making. “Workforce is changing and has different expectations. From an investments standpoint, in the 2021 proxy season, support for shareholder proposals seeking disclosure of corporate diversity data was near-unanimous,” she wrote.

In a question about inflation, Hammond talked about how it can make plan sponsors and participants reluctant to adapt. “Inflation makes both #401k Plan Sponsors and participants uncertain,” he wrote. “The sand has been shifting under their feet for almost 2 years. Whether its food costs or pain at the pump it makes both reluctant to make any changes.”

When asked about regulatory changes, Treichel mentioned the so-called SECURE 2.0 Act and the RISE Act, plus ESG. “From a regulatory standpoint from DOL, we will see #ESG reg finalized, more fiduciary rule (round 3 anyone?) + DOL focus on portability and leakage,” she wrote.

To see the complete chat, check out the @Benefits_PRO Twitter moment of the event and dive into the #BPRORetirement hashtag.