Newport reposted this
Since joining Newport, an Ascensus company, in recent months, I’ve been impressed by the insights emerging across our team. That includes our Compensation, Retirement, and Benefits Trends Report recently shared with our clients. For nearly two decades, this annual report has provided a comprehensive view of total rewards programs in the middle market and helped employers budget and benchmark their retirement and benefits strategy against market norms. More than 780 organizations across multiple industries took part this year, and their responses were a tale of two strategies—while salary budgets will likely be more modest in 2025, employers anticipate greater use of variable incentive compensation, retirement match, and off-cycle pay adjustments to attract and retain talent. We also learned: ◼️ Employers continue to partner with advisors. In fact, 90 percent of plan sponsors work with advisors and nearly 60 percent of those relationships exceed five years. ◼️ Service is key. When evaluating retirement plan services, respondents continue to prioritize the level and quality of service over cost of service or investments. ◼️ More than half of sponsors surveyed are already taking advantage of professionally managed accounts. ◼️ Health plan costs remain on the rise. One-third of employers reported cost increases of 4-8 percent, with another third experiencing even higher increases. Interestingly, though nearly 40 percent of respondents were unsure if 3(16) administrative fiduciary services were of interest to them, nearly half cite administrative burden as a top concern. And though nearly one-third of sponsors say they have no plans to implement financial wellness programs to help prepare employees for their retirement, according to Financial Finesse, 98% of survey respondents consider financial education to be an important part of their total benefits package. Both represent a meaningful education opportunity for advisors. ➡️ You can download an Executive Summary report here: https://lnkd.in/eXD-n3W3 ➡️ And find educational tools and resources here: https://lnkd.in/eUwcw9Xk