Cerulli and Morningstar: 10.2% of advisers' wealth clients come from DC plans

Only 10.2% of advisers' wealth clients come from their DC plans, according to joint research from Cerulli Associates and Morningstar. Sixty-three percent of surveyed advisers call leveraging those plans for wealth prospecting at least a moderate priority.

Nearly 40% of advisers say they lack time to prospect inside their plans, while the research names capacity, account minimums and limited participant data as other barriers. It cites $250,000 account minimums; most participant accounts never reach that level while the participant is still working for the plan sponsor.

The white paper also describes firms spending to turn plan participants into wealth clients.

Cerulli found 46% of pre-retirees want anytime withdrawals and 39% want guaranteed income. Consultants told the firm that plans may need two or three retirement income options to cover those preferences.

Kevin Crain of the Institutional Retirement Income Council argues that imprecise vocabulary stalls those decisions. The council's proposed framework would treat "retirement income" as a category rather than a synonym for a product.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management broadened access to SmartRetirement Lifetime Income on Retirement Link through an expanded connection with Empower, its recordkeeper since 2012.

A Harris Poll for Athene found 85% of workers aged 40-61 rate guaranteed monthly income appealing, while 23% own annuities. Of those workers, 34% said they mostly or fully understood annuities, and 54% knew very little about them or only somewhat understood them.