Media Coverage

A New Year’s Resolution for Sponsors: Facilitate Automated Plan-to-Plan Portability for Your Participants

Writing in RCH's Consolidation Corner blog, and taking his cue from the 10/5/22 announcement of the industry-led utility (Portability Services Network) to accelerate the nationwide adoption of auto portability, RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams encourages plan sponsors resolve to adopt auto portability in the New Year, for both their participants and for the health of their plans. Williams writes: "[a]s we look ahead to the New Year, plan sponsors can resolve to help their participants increase their retirement savings—and increase key metrics such as average account balance—by adopting auto portability."

A Decade in the Making: The Retirement Industry's New 'Utility'

Ignites' Beagan Wilcox-Volz covers a lot of ground in addressing the significance of the new, industry-led 'utility' that will facilitate the nationwide expansion of auto portability. Wilcox-Volz turns to industry experts, such as Josh Gotbaum and Michael Kreps, as well as key figures directly involved in the formation of the Portability Services Network, including RCH's Spencer Williams and Neal Ringquist, Fidelity's Dave Gray and Alight Solutions' Greg Long. Wilcox-Volz also quotes an Empower "spokesperson" as being "in the early stages of due diligence around potentially joining this proposed industry consortium" and that the firm "recognizes the need in the market for auto-portability."

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The Surprising Reason You Should Be Consolidating Your 401(k)s And IRAs

Suggest.com's Perry Carpenter points to three key factors -- including high levels of job-changing, increasing levels of auto enrollment and automatic rollovers of balances below $5,000 -- that converge to make a strong case for individuals consolidating their employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts. Carpenter finds a staunch proponent for consolidation in RCH president & CEO Spencer Williams, who states that "[f]rom a consumer perspective, the default should be 100% of the time to move your money." The piece goes on to cite four key benefits of consolidating account.

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Money, Power, Partnerships: BET Founder Bob Johnson Rallies For Blacks to Build, Preserve, and Pass Down Wealth

Black Enterprise's Derek Major reports on the fireside chat between Robert L. Johnson and Black Enterprise CEO Earl Butch Graves Jr. In the wide-ranging discussion, which is included as video in Major's piece, Johnson and Graves turn to Johnson's role in spurring the formation of the Portability Services Network (PSN), by "teaming up with Fidelity, Vanguard, and Alight Solutions—three of the nation’s largest 401(k) record keepers" to "accelerate the nationwide adoption of auto portability to help America’s underserved workers enhance their retirement finances."

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Fidelity, Vanguard team up to ease 401(k) portability when workers switch jobs

Scott Wooldridge, writing in BenefitsPRO, examines the "new partnership between 401(k) administrators could preserve more than $1 trillion in retirement savings." Utilizing RCH's auto portability solution, the new industry-led consortium will "particularly [benefit] minorities, women, and low-income workers." Wooldridge also quotes Bob Johnson, RCH Chairman, BET founder and Chair of the new Portability Services Network, praising proposed US Senate legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

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Portability Services Network Can Help 401(k) Industry

Steff Chalk, Executive Director of The Retirement Advisor University (TRAU), writes in 401kTV.com about the Portability Services Network, the newly-announced, industry-led consortium formed to accelerate the adoption of auto portability. Chalk characterizes the new entity as "a new concept for the retirement plan industry" and that "it is poised to make a big impact on plan sponsors and plan participants." Chalk also writes that RCH President & CEO Spencer Williams "has indicated that there are additional 401(k) industry stalwarts who are planning to join the collaboration."

Forget to Roll Over Your 401(k)? Find It in This New ‘Lost & Found’

The Penny Hoarder's senior writer Mike Brassfield reports on the 10/5/2022 announcement of an industry-led consortium to accelerate the adoption of auto portability. Brassfield acknowledges the setbacks that ultimately face participants who fail to preserve their small-balance retirement savings, and likens the new auto portability network to a "lost and found" -- providing a means for millions of participants to avoid the deleterious effects of cashing out.

Fidelity, Vanguard Working To Prevent 401(k) Leaks

Writing for Clark.com, Christopher Smith first takes the perspective of the participant, noting the difficult challenges they face in consolidating small-balance retirement savings and moving them forward as they frequently jobs. According to Smith, that dynamic produces high levels of cashout leakage, citing the $92.4 billion figure provided by EBRI. That perspective forms the basis for Smith's take that the new industry-led consortium announced 10/5/22 to accelerate the adoption of auto portability, will be a positive development. Smith observes that "instead of having your investments automatically cashed out — or put into cash in an IRA without you realizing it — your investments will follow you."