Takeaways from the RPA Broker/Dealer Roundtable
In early September 2026, TRAU convened the RPA Broker/Dealer Roundtable and Thinktank at the Goldman Sachs offices in New York City. Attending was a group of senior executives of the DC divisions of the most influential DC broker/dealers.
Also attending were representatives from the event’s sponsors. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss the most salient issues, both opportunities and challenges, on b/d’s minds
Prior to the event, the DCIIA Retirement Research Center interviewed 13 of the attending b/d representatives to pose the question: What keeps them up at night regarding the opportunities and challenges they face in the DC space? Importantly, the interviews were confidential, and responses are grouped and generalized with no attribution to specific respondents.
The discussions were dominated by issues related to convergence of workplace retirement plans and wealth management. There was also a great deal of focus on the role of AI in making convergence a reality and its impact on operations. The following is a summary of the interviews.
Convergence Issues—Advisors
A key issue dominating b/ds’ minds is related to developing best practices for helping advisors bring wealth management services to the worksite. Because DC plans seem so complicated and so sophisticated to some advisors, it scares them away. A suggested best practice was making DC plan management turnkey, so advisors won’t shy away from DC complexity, and focus on what they do best while not drowning in administrative issues. Along with that, there was a feeling that b/ds need to train advisors to serve their clients’ corporation more holistically to create opportunities to speak with/engage the C-Suite.
Convergence Issues—Participant Data
Capturing participant data feeds from the record keepers continues to be a major concern when implementing convergence strategies. From a legal perspective, the questions of what’s permissible regarding what BDs can do with the data, and who owns the data, persist.
Adjacent to those issues, b/ds (and record keepers) emphasized the need to be finely tuned into data security. One major data security incident could significantly slow convergence momentum. Some pointed out that because smaller b/d firms may not have protocols that are secure as they should be, there needs to an industry-wide protocol for those receiving participant data.
The Impact of AI
Broker/dealers asserted that AI is only as accurate as the data that it’s fed, and hallucinates when making a determination based on very limited data. This becomes a key concern as the wealth management industry looks to AI as a way to deliver advice and guidance to all DC plan participants, regardless of asset size.
Additionally, there is still a great deal of uncertainty related to how AI will disrupt b/ds’ business practices. Specifically, how is AI going to impact the role of service teams and what will be their future roles? And will BDs need to furlough or lay off employees as they realize efficiencies through AI?
Market Uncertainty
Some b/ds are troubled that the general state of the economy, shrinking consumer confidence, global tensions and the market are amplifying recession fears. As a result, some employers may be more reluctant to start new plans, or employers might become tighter with benefit dollars, making new business harder to come by.
Government Involvement
Finally, b/ds wondered if or when the federal government will get more involved in the workplace savings market? Creating a plan modeled after the Thrift Savings Plan for uncovered workers, or perhaps all workers was raised as a possibility. And if that happens, broker/dealers question who will manage the plans.
Comparing these results to interviews completed a year ago in preparation for the 2025 TRAU Broker/Dealer Roundtable, clearly shows a shift from conceptualization of convergence to implementation. Although much progress has been made and the concept of convergence is already showing substantial returns, it appears we are still in the early innings. We will check in with the Broker/Dealers a year from now to track its evolutionary path.
