A very limited number of registered investment advisers work with defined contribution plans, according to a survey of plan sponsors by TD Ameritrade, only about 5%. That number makes sense if you look at the retirement plan marketplace going back seven to 10 years, says John Newman, managing director of retirement plan services for TD Ameritrade Institutional in Denver, because the small-plan market, plans with up to $10 million in assets, has been dominated by investment product providers like insurance companies, mutual fund companies and broker dealers.
“Those are entities that have large sales forces and they have a top-down distribution method where many of those proprietary product solutions are being pushed through large sales teams,” Newman says. “Independent RIAs are not part of that structure so they have not taken to the marketplace in the same numbers as non-independent advisers affiliated with investment products.”
