Succession Planning Is the New Executive Benefits Battlefield

The retirement plan adviser who wants to keep the executive suite as a client should probably stop leading the conversation with the 401(k). NFP's 2026 U.S. Executive Benefits Trend Report, first reported by PLANADVISER, identifies succession planning as the emerging pressure point: representatives from 81% of surveyed organizations say they cannot afford to lose their top talent, and 62% of employers say planning for employees in key leadership roles will become a major focus as those employees approach retirement. Yet 49% have not implemented any executive benefits strategies to support leadership transitions, and 71% do not explicitly design executive benefits around succession planning at all.

That gap is the shape of the next client conversation. Retention remains the stated priority: 54% of employers cited it as the top factor influencing executive benefits strategies over the past year, and 56% expect it to be the top factor in the year ahead. Succession planning and leadership continuity ranked second, cited by 47% over the past year and 45% looking ahead. The tools are not the problem: 99% said executive benefits have helped retain top talent, and 94% said similar benefits have been effective in attracting key employees.

Tony Greene, president of NFP's executive benefits division, framed the shift as a change in what these programs are for. "Executive benefits are becoming part of a much bigger conversation," he wrote in an email to PLANADVISER. "For years, these programs were primarily about retention. That's still important, but employers are increasingly thinking about leadership transitions and the long-term success of the organization." The report's numbers back that up, with one important caveat: the intent has moved faster than the design.

The 71% figure is the one plan advisers should spend the most time on. It means most organizations are still running executive benefits on assumptions built for the last generation of leaders. That creates an opening in a market where too many client conversations are about fees, fund menus and recordkeeper service. The adviser who can connect the succession conversation to the benefits plan has a conversation the recordkeeper cannot have.

Greene's advice is to start before the product. "The first thing advisers can do is help organizations identify their key people," he wrote. "The most effective approach is planning years in advance. It starts with understanding what the organization is trying to accomplish and who they are trying to protect." The report found organizations are increasingly using deferred compensation plans for leadership continuity, tax planning and long-term workforce flexibility, which suggests the traditional retention-only design is broadening into something closer to workforce planning.

Greene also said the conversation for advisers shouldn't start with a product. The survey data makes the case. The adviser who opens with a deferred compensation illustration is selling last decade's product, and the adviser who opens with a list of key people and a transition timeline is selling the thing the organization actually fears. Organizations that cannot afford to lose top talent but have no succession-aligned benefits design have a problem no investment menu solves. The firm that helps them name the problem, then build the benefits around it, is the firm that owns the relationship when the succession event arrives.

The other number worth watching is the one in five who said their executive benefits strategies still fall short on flexibility. That is a smaller share, but it points to the same conclusion: the product is not the differentiator; the design is. With 99% of organizations already reporting success on retention, the marginal value of another deferred compensation plan is low. The marginal value of a plan that names the successors, funds the transition and protects the organization from the departure of a key person is exactly what the blind spot is missing.

The number to watch is the 62% who say key-leader planning will become a major focus as retirement approaches. When that focus turns into a decision, the adviser who already knows the names on the list will have the inside track. The rest will be introducing themselves at the worst possible time.