Oisin Breen

Brooke Southall and Keith Girard

With IRA inflows as tailwind, RIAs are taking over U.S. pension assets by the trillions as second act to 35 years of ransacking wirehouse talent and booty

401(k)

Cerulli Associates

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

Rollovers to individual retirement accounts hit a net $444 billion in 2021, Cerulli reports; advisors got 63% and the 401(k) cow is only going to get more productive.

With IRA inflows as tailwind, RIAs are taking over U.S. pension assets by the trillions as second act to 35 years of ransacking wirehouse talent and booty

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