Oisin Breen

Surprising?  Not really.  Looks like Nardelli was just doing his best dog and pony show to win business for Azure.  Mission accomplished - time to move on.  None of the incumbents really want to change things - same as it ever was.

The BlackRock-Microsoft 'reimagining' of the 401(k) market, arrives looking more like a remix  of existing third-party products

BlackRock

Microsoft

RetireOne

DPL Financial Partners

The days when RIAs were the outsiders at the 401(k) party are fast coming to a close. What's new is that the mass of 401(k) assets 
is getting critical at about $3 trillion; fiduciary advisors are getting appreciated; fat fees and questionable kickbacks are getting exposed and stepping out of line is getting dicier as the Department of Labor tightens the regulatory screws.

The old reasons why the 401(k) business is attractive are still in place: there are fresh assets pouring in every month and when employees leave jobs or retire, they produce rollovers that build up IRA accounts for financial advisors. The drawbacks of getting into the 401(k) business are still in place, too. Dealing with retirement assets is really a second line of business and it remains -- unless you overcharge with hidden fees -- a low margin business with high potential fiduciary liabilities.

Still, the outsourcers, infrastructure and accumulated knowledge for RIAs to capitalize on is growing daily and a the mega-shift of assets away from brokers is making the 401(k) business riskier and riskier -- to ignore.

401(k) Stories

The RIA business has many tech vendors working hard to serve its diverse needs, and we're seeing technology become a more crucial part of setting up and running an RIA than ever before.

The Technology section includes unbiased tech reviews, tech-related news, and coverage of tech-related conferences.

Technology

The New York-Seattle cross-breeding combines annuities and BlackRock target-date funds but the superpowers expended little  imagination, RIA annuity executives say.

The BlackRock-Microsoft 'reimagining' of the 401(k) market, arrives looking more like a remix of existing third-party products

Brian Murphy

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