Auto Portability in the News
Browse the most comprehensive collection of articles in the media that feature auto portability.
How Vanguard Is Helping Under-Served Americans Increase Retirement Savings
Private wealth guru Russ Alan Prince sits down with Vanguard's Steve Holman, who serves as principal and head of Vanguard’s Workplace Solutions Distribution Enablement division, and who also serves as a member of the board of directors for the Portability Services Network. The two discuss Vanguard's perspective on helping under-served retirement savers, how Vanguard came to embrace auto portability via the Portability Services Network, how auto portability has already made significant progress with plan sponsor adoption, and why Holman believes adoption is in the best interests of plan sponsors and their participants.
Come On In, The Water’s Fine
RCH’s Tom Hawkins, writing in the Consolidation Corner blog, shares his perspective on a recent public position taken by PensionBee, who drew attention to the “participant-unfriendly nature of some safe harbor IRAs” and suggested that “plan sponsors may risk breaching their fiduciary duty to plan participants by utilizing them.” Hawkins generally agrees but notes that the firm “didn’t go far enough” and offers readers with three areas of additional concerns that support this view. The piece concludes by offering plan sponsors with tips and resources to avail themselves of, should they wish to “take a hard look at their automatic rollover programs.”
RCH Consolidation Corner Channel Ep. 14 - The Risky Business of Automatic Cashouts
In this episode of the RCH Consolidation Corner Channel, we take a hard look at the “risky business” of automatically cashing out separated participant balances less than $1,000. We hope you'll find the short audio segment enjoyable and informative.
‘Forgotten’ 401(k) account fees can cost workers thousands in lost retirement savings, report finds
Contributing CNBC writer and editor Jessica Dickler's 06/07/25 piece in CNBC Money takes on the problem of 'forgotten' 401(k) accounts, defined as occurring when employees change jobs, leaving behind 401(k) balances with previous employers. After examining the topic from various perspectives, Dickler closes her piece by citing the Portability Services Network, formed in 2022 by "a group of large 401(k) plan administrators." Dickler reports that the "consortium works with defined contribution plan rollover specialist Retirement Clearinghouse on auto portability, or the automatic transfer of small-balance 401(k)s." She goes on to cite Fidelity's Mike Shamrell, vice president of thought leadership at the nation's largest provider of 401(k) plans, who maintains that the goal of auto portability "is to consolidate and maintain those retirement savings accounts, rather than cashing them out or risk losing track of them, during employment transitions."
Learning lessons from the US long-term savings industry
Writing in Professional Pensions, Tom Ground, the UK-based CEO of Retirement Solutions at Standard Life, describes his "learning lessons" from a recent tour of the US retirement industry. Ground characterizes the US retirement industry as being "at least ten years ahead of [the UK}" and goes on to identify the key areas where the US has excelled. High on Ground's list is auto portability, where he writes: "the US has grasped the nettle and introduced ‘auto-portability' which enables small pots to move with you to your new employer in much the same way the pot follows member concept would have worked here. Feedback from those I spoke to suggested it was an effective...solution to the problem."
$1.7 trillion sits in lost and forgotten 401(k) accounts. Is one of them yours?
Daniel de Vise, writing in USA Today, examines the phenomenon of "missing money" in the nation's retirement system. The author examines multiple approaches for finding forgotten retirement savings account, including dedicated websites, the newly-established Retirement Savings Lost & Found, and personal sleuthing. Perhaps saving the best for last, de Vise turns to auto portability, writing: "[f]ewer 401(k)s will go missing in future, experts say, thanks to the evolving concept of "auto-portability" in retirement plans" embraced by the Portability Services Network (PSN). de Vise wraps up his piece by quoting AARP's David John, who states that PSN will make sure that retirement funds “move seamlessly from one job to another."
Beyond Missing: Targeting Unresponsive Participants in Retirement Plans
Writing in 401k Specialist, Tom Hawkins examines the phenomenon of ‘unresponsive’ participants, which he defines as participants “for whom a plan has correct contact information, but who fail to respond to plan communications.” This sub-set of missing participants presents plan sponsors with unique challenges, because “the challenge is not finding them – it’s engaging them.” Hawkins continues by identifying six major drivers of unresponsive participants, while offering plan sponsors six best practices to minimize them.
Plan Sponsors, Providers Face Challenges Creating Retirement Income
Writing in PLANSPONSOR, Elizabeth Harris turns to retirement industry experts to examine the obstacles associated with turning retirement savings into regular income. Vanguard's Fiona Grieg, global head of the firm's investor research and policy group, addressed empirical data associated with 70,000 retirees, suggesting that many of them "just don’t know what to do." Highlighting the issue of cashout leakage, Grieg noted that "Vanguard is one of the founding recordkeepers of the Portability Services Network and is encouraging its clients to join" while pointing out that the consolidation of "small pots" could deliver significant benefits, considering that the average workers has "nine jobs over the course of their careers."
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