Rollover Market Could See $382B This Year

According to the 2014 annual Investor Rollover Assets in Motion study, a potential $382 billion could transfer into IRAs this year. Providers hoping to get a piece of the action should set their sights on Generation X and Generation Y investors, who are the likeliest to take action. The reason for the increased amount of money in motion is a rise in the number of households with at least $100,000 in investable assets, Cogent Reports finds.

Gen X and Gen Y investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets hold the largest proportion of their assets in former workplace-based retirement plans, and say the likeliest action they’ll take in the near future is to roll those assets over into an IRA.

A combination of job jumping and experimenting with different careers has helped these younger investors accrue sizeable balances in these former employer-sponsored plans, according to Sonia Sharigian, senior product manager at Market Strategies International and author of the report. “The younger the investor, the more receptive and ready they are in terms of taking action,” Sharigian says.

Almost two-thirds of Gen X investors (61%) and 74% of Gen Y investors with former workplace retirement plans intend to roll funds into a rollover IRA within the next year, according to Cogent’s findings.  

According to the report, the distributor firms best positioned to capture rollover assets from investors with a former retirement plan are: Vanguard, Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments.

Low fees and strong brand reputations are key factors that Gen X and Gen Y investors cite when choosing a rollover IRA provider for former plan assets, Sharigan says. “Softer, more personal outreach is also influential among these younger investors, who also consider providers they have established relations with—especially firms that make them feel like a valued customer,” she notes.

The top 10 preferred rollover IRA destinations are:

1. Vanguard
2. Charles Schwab
3. Fidelity Investments
4. Edward Jones
5. Ameriprise
6. E*TRADE
7. USAA
8. Merrill Lynch
9. Wells Fargo Advisors
10. T. Rowe Price

Cogent Reports is a division of Market Strategies International.

The Investor Rollover Assets in Motion report drills down into the assets investors hold in current and former employer-sponsored retirement plans to help firms maximize their opportunity to gain IRA rollover assets. The report provides sizing for the rollover IRA market, profiles investors likeliest to roll over plan assets, identifies the financial services firms best positioned to capture assets and analyzes the specific steps investors have taken to prepare for retirement.