Advisors Push Triple Crown Convergence in $3 Million-$250 Million Plans

1 articles · Updated · Wealth Management · Jul 13

$3 million-$250 million 401(k) and 403(b) plans are increasingly moving toward combined wealth, retirement and benefits services, with advisors—not plan sponsors—driving the shift.
Advisor behavior is led mainly by revenue, competitive advantage and client demand, not by participant-outcome goals alone; products like HSAs and retirement income lag when they offer little direct payback.
CITs illustrate the model: offering similar investments 30% to 40% cheaper than mutual funds can win business, while participant advice, managed accounts and rollovers create new revenue and deepen client ties.
Regulation can enable adoption—such as 2006 PPA support for auto features and target-date funds, and SECURE 1.0 changes that helped PEPs—but laws by themselves do not reshape advisor priorities.
Benefits integration is now seen as the next differentiator as core retirement-plan fiduciary and fee services become commoditized, with PEPs projected to reach 10% to 15% of plans within five years.