Voya Investment Management survey reveals DC specialists are more aligned with participant views on retirement readiness versus plan sponsors

Voya Investment Management (Voya IM), the asset management business of Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA), today released new findings from its 2025 Survey of the retirement landscape. "Challenges and Opportunities for Defined Contribution (DC) Specialists" offers insights into the evolving perceptions and practices of those who advise, sponsor and benefit from employer-sponsored retirement savings programs. This is the fifth edition of the survey, with previous waves conducted in March 2023, March 2021, December 2018, and April 2016.

While participants are feeling more optimistic regarding their retirement, as in 2023, sponsors continued to overestimate participants' sense of their retirement readiness. 91% of sponsors thought participants were either "very" or "somewhat" prepared, whereas only 69% of participants felt that way. The good news is that participant confidence increased since 2023, up from 63%. Meanwhile, DC specialists' views were more in line with participants', with 70% saying that participants are "very" or "somewhat" prepared (versus 71% in 2023).

"This level of confidence from sponsors isn't unusual," said Brian Houston, senior vice president, Business Development Manager, DCIO, Voya IM. "Sponsors have generally felt that participants are better prepared for retirement than specialists have. One of the many factors driving this optimism may be the long-running equity bull market. However, it's crucial that participants are properly invested and have appropriate asset allocation, especially in a volatile market environment. Both sponsors and specialists agree on this point, and it's a key focus for helping participants achieve their retirement goals."

The survey also highlights a growing interest among sponsors and participants in solutions for generating income in retirement, signaling a shift toward more outcome-oriented retirement planning. Other key findings of the report include:

• Target date funds (TDFs) remain a staple: Specialists and sponsors continue to see TDFs as key components of DC plans. Three in four specialists include them in the plans they advise, while three in five sponsors have them in their plan. Of the sponsors who don't, nearly half would like to in the future.
• Interest in retirement income options gain traction: While specialists were more likely to believe that plan sponsors prioritize investment selection and monitoring, sponsors place a higher value on guidance among retirement income options, ranking it considerably higher than what specialists perceived.
• The percentage of participants that are caregivers and those with special needs are underestimated: Specialists and plan sponsors recognized the importance of addressing the specific financial needs of caregivers. However, more than 80% of both groups estimated that caregivers made up less than 20% of plan participants. According to AARP data, the real number is likely far higher based on the incidence of caregiving in the general population.

Bridging Perspectives: Sponsors and Specialists Align on Retirement Readiness Challenges and Opportunities

As in 2023, sponsors and specialists continued to have generally similar views on the most challenging barriers to participant retirement readiness. Both groups agreed the top barrier is insufficient participant contributions to the plan. Sponsors cited participants taking loans, hardship withdrawals or other types of withdrawals as the second most important barrier, while specialists ranked participants not knowing how much they'll need in retirement in that position.

Compared to the previous survey, this year's sponsor and specialist responses showed greater alignment on key barriers to retirement readiness. Both groups highlighted a lack of understanding and support for retirement income generation, as well as participant investment strategies that are either overly aggressive or too conservative.

Retirement Income Options and Investment Menus

Sponsors cited guidance on retirement income investment options as the top service they want from their specialist, and 77% identified adding a retirement income solution or product as an important area of focus in the next two years.

According to 83% of sponsors, the SECURE Act of 2019 and the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 have encouraged a strong focus on retirement income. Nine out of 10 sponsors agreed that there has been greater focus on the need for retirement income solutions in DC plans due to an aging participant base. This sentiment was even stronger among sponsors of larger plans.

Sponsors and specialists were fairly aligned in their opinions on how to structure the plan's investment menu. 91% of sponsors and 88% of specialists agreed that offering a tiered investment menu— i.e., TDFs, core funds, and a self-directed brokerage/mutual fund window—for different types of participants can result in a better investing experience.

One area of variance between sponsors and specialists centered around the number of investment options in the plan. 70% of sponsors said offering too many choices could inhibit effective participant investment decisions (down from 82% in 2023), while specialists' views on this remained stable since the previous survey (88%).

Opportunities for DC specialists

"We see a significant opportunity for DC specialists to lead in the delivery of products such as TDFs or retirement income products," said Houston. "Our data show strong alignment between sponsors and specialists on the importance of supporting participants' holistic financial well-being. This opens the door for specialists to provide targeted education and personalized messaging—especially around guidance on retirement income investing options, which sponsors ranked as their top priority."

Voya's survey also showed that specialists were more likely to indicate they always or usually recommend or discuss plan features with sponsors than sponsors perceived, suggesting an opportunity for specialists to strengthen their communication skills especially when conveying their value / expertise.

Sponsor and specialist views on the goals of financial wellness programs were generally well aligned. Sponsors identified helping participants with holistic financial wellness as an important area of focus, which presents an excellent opportunity for specialists to assist.

Methodology

From mid-January to mid-February 2025, we conducted an online survey of retirement plan sponsors and DC specialists focused on the retirement plan market. As in 2023, we included contributing participants in the survey to better understand their perspectives on issues such as retirement readiness, investing, and financial confidence.

Voya Consumer Insights & Research assisted Voya IM with the development, execution, and analysis of the retirement plan participant survey. This survey was crafted to complement the plan sponsor and DC specialist surveys conducted with Brookmark Research. An online survey was conducted among 500 benefits-eligible, employed Americans who were actively contributing to their employer-sponsored retirement plan.

The study distinguishes specialists by type: heavy-focus DC specialists, whose practices emphasize plan sponsor clients, and emerging DC specialists, for whom plan sponsors represent a smaller proportion of business. The study also segments sponsors based on plan size: $1-5 million, $5-25 million, and over $25 million.

About Voya Investment Management

Voya Investment Management delivers actively managed public and private market solutions that drive differentiated outcomes for clients worldwide. Our team of 300+ investment professionals manages approximately $344 billion in assets as of March 31, 2025. We excel at partnering with clients to understand their needs and address challenges in innovative ways, drawing on extensive expertise across fixed income, equity, and multi-asset strategies.

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Media Contact:

Kristopher Kagel

Voya Financial

(201) 221-6534

[email protected]