“As we talk to financial provider clients and stakeholders in the industry there is a sense that they have awakened to the importance of digital, but it’s only recently,” Foy said. “One of reasons I think this group is late to the game is that decision makers are plan sponsors, so a lot of resources have always been invested in the perspective of employers. It’s only recently that companies have started zeroing in on participant experience.”
Since retirement plan participation is often an individual’s first experience with investing, plan providers have an “inside track” to build a relationship and retain and grow the participant’s assets long after they have separated from their current employer, Foy added.
While many providers have invested significantly in developing digital content and tools to provide education and guidance, if participants are unaware of those resources or can’t easily find or use them, it’s a huge missed opportunity, the study found.
Phone apps and persuading investors to download the apps is one key to investor satisfaction that many retirement plan providers are overlooking, the study found. Overall satisfaction with mobile app experience is 69 points higher than for websites, yet only 35% of participants have downloaded their retirement plan provider’s app to their phone. By comparison, 52% of utility residential customers have downloaded their energy provider’s app.
J.D. Power also warned that retirement planning and savings can’t be done effectively in isolation from a participant’s other short- and long-term financial goals and needs.
While slightly more than half (58%) of plan participants are generally financially healthy, among those who are not—including the overextended, stressed and vulnerable—satisfaction scores are much lower for the value of the information and content provided. Providers need to do a better job of understanding participant needs and delivering more relevant digital content, J.D. Power said.