Retirement Plan Sponsors Prepared to Comply With Regulatory Changes

A survey released Monday by the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America found that 403(b) plan sponsors are in the "final stages of compliance" with regulatory changes issued by the Department of Labor. Over three-quarters of respondents said they used an auditor, recordkeeper or aggregator to prepare their Form 5500 in 2010, up from two-thirds in 2009.

“This year’s survey proves that 403(b) plan sponsors are still working hard to comply with the new regulations,” David Wray, president of the PSCA, said in a press release. “Although the rate of change has slowed since our 2009 survey, there are still significant adjustments underway as plan sponsors respond to the needs of their participants and their plans.”

The survey also found that 403(b) plans are working to meet their participants' needs by offering features like automatic enrollment, target-date or lifestyle funds, and investment advice. Over 12% of plans featured automatic enrollment in 2010. Plans with over 1,000 participants were especially likely to offer automatic enrollment (29%). Of plans with auto-enrollment, one-third offered target-date funds, and 29% offered lifestyle funds. Over 21% of organizations offered some form of investment advice to participants. The majority offered one-on-one, in-person counseling.