401(k) Real Talk Episode 209: September 23, 2026

Welcome to this week’s edition of 401(k) Real Talk, where Fred Barstein, contributing editor for Wealth Management’s RPA channel, reviews all of last week’s industry news and selects the five most important/interesting stories.

Worth Reading:

Read the full raw transcript below:

Greetings & a warm welcome to this week’s edition of 401k Real Talk. This is Fred Barstein contributing editor at WealthManagement’s RPA omnichannel and CEO at TRAU, TPSU & 401kTV – I review all of this week’s stories and select the most important and interesting ones providing open honest and candid discussion you will not get anyway else. So let’s get real!

FIRST STORY

Like a couple of other RIA aggregators, Creative Planning has ventured into the institutional consulting market with the recently announced deal to acquire Portland based $4.3 tr RVK.

Similar deals include Hightower & NEPC, Mariner & Andco, and Cerity & Verus. The reverse occurred when AON bought NFP but then almost immediately sold off the RPA and RIA divisions.

Though access to HNW participants in larger plans as well as opportunities to cross sell plans may be attractive, many firms like Hightower highlighted the investment due diligence of the IICs especially with alts likely to gain traction in the wealth and DC markets, as well as the ability to negotiate better pricing leveraging scale.

Fake news has become a common phase in the Trump era but fake DOL letters is a new one. High ranking members of congress are calling for an immediate investigation of up to a reported 12,000 of the 47,000 comment letters sent to the DOL about their rule to allow alts into DC plans.

Some of the letters came from dead people while some identified as authors claim they never wrote them. Wonder who could be behind this?

To leverage the explosion of DC plans due mostly to government mandates, Raymond James has partnered with the CapGroup to create a SIMPLE 401k targeting employers with less than 100 employees.

Cerulli is predicting that DC plans will jump from 830,000 to over 1 m plans by 2029 while more wealth advisors see value in helping clients that own or manage a DC with their retirement plan to prospect for new wealth and financial planning clients.

The new program combines IRA features with 401ks like customizable investment menus and an employer match.

Edelman recently partnered with ADP to serve smaller plans while fintechs serving the micro market like Vestwell are booming with new entrants like 401Go and Basic Capital attracting capital.

Impetus for 338 and OCIO services has been growing but the DOL new investment rule expected out by the end of the year could accelerate that trend.

In their PS Attitudes study, Fidelity reported that 41% prefer 338 co-fiduciaries up from 38% last year. P&I reported a 400% increase in OCIO assets since 2018 with NEPC reporting a 4.5 uptick in the past 5 years.

Though created to allow more alts into DC plans, the DOL rule has doubled down on process providing a safe harbor if plans conduct prudent due diligence based on performance, assets, liquidity, benchmarking and complexity.

More RPAs are moving to 338 services, which is simpler to administer, with few if any charging more though they have greater liability. Look for the new DOL rule to greatly accelerate this trend.

FINALLY

The distinction between defined contribution firms that identify themselves as advisors or institutional investment consultants has been blurring for the past 20 years. It had been and continues to be based to some extent on the size of plans served. The recent T Rowe Price Sixth Annual Defined Contribution Consultant Study now includes 12 traditional advisory firms of the 36 surveyed. Though not broken out by firm type, there were some hints at the differences.

Read my recent WealthManagement.com/RPA column about how convergence is the main reason why lines are blurring and which group is best positioned to leverage it.

FINISH

So those were the most important stories from the past week. I listed a few others that are worth reading covering:

Morningstar reports participants in managed accounts have increased contribution rates

Schwab to offer Claude to 16,000 RIAs

Anthropic launches Claude for financial advisors

Retirement assets top $51 trillion – DC over $15 tr
Please let me know if I missed anything or if you would like to comment. Otherwise I look forward to speaking to you next week on 401k Real Talk.