Draft rules would replace the March proposal by letting the Treasury Secretary open accounts automatically, and the regulations do not say which data would identify eligible children.

Treasury projects more than 60 million accounts will be added this year under temporary regulations that let the secretary open them on a child's behalf.

The proposal would supply four model forms and a five-step process, and 401(k) Specialist columnist Tom Hawkins calls it a constructive step.

The succession puts a target-date and DC manager in the hands of an executive built on client coverage and private markets, leaving the retirement menu a defensive position.

Demand for private markets in DC plans has now been measured twice; the summer poll shows participants cannot identify the assets they say they want, which pushes the education job onto the target-date fund.

Growth is coming from lower fees and brokerage windows rather than expanded eligibility, while four in five employees never buy a fund.