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Retirement Plan Communication in an Auto Features World (PDF)

"Findings indicate that the evolution of communications has not kept pace with the evolution of plan design. In fact, the more automatic features organizations have implemented, the more strongly they believe participant communication has not evolved accordingly. Compared to plan sponsors who have implemented only one automatic plan feature, those who have implemented the complete bundle of all three auto features are 56% more likely to feel that communication strategies have not kept pace with the evolution in plan design. That said, plan sponsors are divided as to whether, or how much, communication should be retooled for plans with auto features in place."

Auto-Enrollment and QDIAs Succeed, But Participant Communications Don't Keep Up

"Eighty-five percent of plan sponsors reported that automatic features are especially effective in helping participants who consider themselves less educated on retirement matters. [But] the more fully organizations have embraced automatic features, the more strongly those organizations believe participant communication has not evolved apace. Plan sponsors who have implemented a bundle of automatic plan features -- automatic enrollment, qualified investment default alternatives (QDIAs) and automatic escalation -- are 56 percent more likely to feel that communication strategies have not kept pace with the evolution in plan design."