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Data & Research February 2, 2011
Report Shows Plan Participants Increasing Use of Advice
Bank
of America Merrill Lynch’s quarterly “401(k) Contribution Activities Scorecard”
shows plan sponsor adoption and participant utilization of advice services continued
to grow in 2010.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
The analysis found a 23% increase in plan sponsor adoption of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s AdviceAccess service, with more than 400 plans now using the service. In addition, there was a 99% increase in participants accessing the advice tool and a 97% increase in participants receiving and reviewing specific advice within their 401(k) accounts.
The report said there was a 7% increase in the use of auto-enrollment, with more than 250 plans live with this feature, and a 23% increase in the use of auto-increase, with more than 140 plans now live with this feature.
Of all participants who took some type of savings action during Q4 2010, 84% took a positive action (started or increased contributions), versus 16% who took a negative action (stopped or decreased contributions) – compared to 80% and 20% during Q4 2009, respectively.
For the year, of all participants who took some type of savings action, 77% took a positive action (started or increased contributions) versus 23% who took a negative action (stopped or decreased contributions) – compared to 70% and 30% during 2009, respectively.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Financial Wellness Monitor also gained in popularity in 2010 among clients using the AdviceAccess service. More than 400 plans are now live with this reporting capability, through which plan sponsors can identify segments of their employees exhibiting behaviors that may be detrimental to retirement success and offer targeted financial education and communications programs.