Financial professional newsletter
Q2 2024
Research identifies tips for delivering effective and efficient client service
Wondering how you can provide excellent client service and still have time to find new business? Robin Green, president of WinMore Plans, conducted research to answer this question, which is a top concern for leading retirement plan professionals.1 The findings outline practice steps leading retirement plan advisors are taking to be more efficient and effective.
Based on the research, discover tips you can follow to improve efficiency, profitability, and client satisfaction. You can use this infornation as a guide to create your action plan.
Read our flyer and watch the webinar replay.
1 “Level-up; Benchmarking Your Retirement Practice + other lessons from legends,” WinMore Plans, April 2024. The study is commissioned by John Hancock and is based on data gathered from 84 practices, with at least 50% of revenue from retirement or a dedicated retirement plan business. Responses were collected from July 2023 to March 2024 through a combination of surveys and interviews. Individual circumstances may vary and may not be reflective of your situation.
How state-mandated plans can help you open doors
Many states have enacted retirement programs to help provide greater access to workplace retirement benefits. We can help you demonstrate your value and showcase your expertise to plan sponsors.
- Dynamic plan design
- Streamlined administration
- Flexible investment platform
- Personalized participant experience
Key questions to ask plan sponsors:
- How could participating in the state program affect their administrative workload?
- What kind of saving and investment opportunities could their employees have?
- Would the employer and employees benefit from directing their money and effort to a plan that’s custom made for their goals—and that they help design?
Help grow your assets and business with consolidation support
Consolidations are about $20,600 greater when assisted by a John Hancock consolidation specialist, which can be a big boost to your bottom line.1 Our dedicated consolidation specialists can help you gather outside accounts to the degree you want.
- Help consolidate accounts for you
- Help you consolidate accounts
- Give you the tools to consolidate accounts
1 John Hancock Personal Financial Services, LLC (JHPFS) consolidation services for 2023: $45,563 assisted, $24,990 unassisted.
Investments
Why you may want to consider offering CITs in your 401(k) plans
Collective investment trusts (CITs) are tax-exempt, pooled investment vehicles maintained by a bank or trust company. They may help plan fiduciaries meet their duties to participants by providing a compelling lower-cost diversified investment vehicle. This could make CITs an attractive alternative to mutual funds for 401(k) ERISA fiduciaries to make available to their participants.
Advantages of CITs:
- Maintained by a bank or trust company manager
- Exclusive to certain qualified retirement plans
- Invested in through a contract between the plan fiduciary and the trust, which determines plan eligibility
- Exempt from many registration, administrative, and marketing regulations that drive costs incurred by mutual funds
- Structural cost advantage over mutual funds
The fund is a collective investment trust and is privately offered. Information on this investment is not available in local publications.
Collective investment trusts are offered through banks or trusts overseen by state or federal bank regulators and are subject to the federal laws governing retirement plan fiduciaries. Mutual funds are offered through registered investment companies overseen by the SEC.
Expect more from your target-date funds
We believe a multi-asset investment approach is best suited to provide an appropriate level of diversification and risk-adjusted return potential that can help retirement savers pursue their long-term goals. Now may be the time to consider how much additional value our target-date funds offer.
With John Hancock’s target-date funds, participants can gain access to:
- Multiple offerings
- Benefits of a one-stop shop
- Expenses that may fit any plan's budget
The target date is the expected year in which investors in a target-date portfolio plan to retire and no longer make contributions. The investment strategy of these portfolios is designed to become more conservative over time as the target date approaches (or, if applicable, passes) the target retirement date. Investors should examine the asset allocation of the portfolio to ensure it is consistent with their own risk tolerance. The principal value of your investment, as well as your potential rate of return, is not guaranteed at any time, including at, or after, the target retirement date. There is no guarantee that any investment strategy will achieve its objectives. John Hancock makes available a platform of investment options for selection by fiduciaries of qualified retirement plans, including participant-directed plans. The platform of investments is made available without regard to the individualized needs of any plan. In making the platform available, John Hancock is not undertaking to provide impartial investment advice or to give advice in a fiduciary capacity. Depending on the funds selected or recommended by the plan fiduciaries (and whether or not any funds are recommended or selected), John Hancock and affiliates may receive additional compensation from the funds in the form of 12b-1 fees, transfer agent fees, investment management fees, or otherwise. The total revenue John Hancock and affiliates receives from a fund advised or subadvised by John Hancock and affiliates is higher than that advised or subadvised exclusively by unaffiliated entities. This material is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to buy securities.
Insight and tools to help participants on their journey to retirement
We analyze our data annually to study the state of our participants. Learn what we’ve uncovered about retirement readiness, participant investment results, and participant behavior—and what may be helping or hindering the progress of retirement plan savers.
Key findings include:
- Retirement readiness:
- 79% was the median expense coverage projection among John Hancock participants who engage in expense-based planning
- Overall retirement readiness slipped for all age groups but remained at more than 50%
- Investment management:
- 12.1% was the average balance increase for participants under age 30
- 1.7% was the average increase among participants age 60 and older
- Participant behavior:
- Nearly 2x more participants enrolled or increased contributions vs. decreased
- Almost twice as many participants increased their contributions as decreased
All data is from our open-architecture platform. 2022 data reflects John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC’s 1,756 plans, 1,440,374 participants, and $95,176,036,431 in assets under management and administration (AUMA) as of 6/30/22. 2023 data reflects John Hancock Retirement Plan Services LLC’s 1,966 plans, 1,511,835, participants, and $100,319,359,778 in AUMA as of 6/30/23. The projected balances at retirement age and income replacement ratios within the dashboard are hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only. Results are not guaranteed and do not represent the current or future performance of any specific account or investment. Due to market fluctuations and other factors, it is possible that investment objectives may not be met. Investing involves risks, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
For complete information about a particular investment option, please read the fund prospectus or offering memorandum/trust documents. You should carefully consider the objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. The prospectus or offering memorandum/trust documents contains this and other important information about the investment option and investment company. Please read the prospectus or offering memorandum/trust documents carefully before you invest or send money. Prospectus or offering memorandum/trust documents may only be available in English.