Self-directed DC plan participants represent a unique window into how retirement investors respond to ESG options when given genuine discretion. Analyzing the allocation patterns of new participants who actively choose ESG funds, this paper explores what their behavior reveals about the evolving role of values-based investing in retirement—and the implications for plan menu design.

Personal financial wellness can be described as an individual’s ability to balance the needs of the present and future self when making financial decisions. This process is inherently personal. Employers, often in concert with their recordkeepers and other service providers, are increasingly offering programs aimed at helping their employees make better financial decisions in the belief and hope that improved financial wellness will accrue back to the employer in the form of greater productivity and other forms of ROI.

Commonwealth and DCIIA RRC conducted surveys to explore incentive mechanisms tied to emergency savings plans among workers earning LMI. We sought to understand how offering small-dollar rewards could influence the possible demand for employer-sponsored emergency savings, notably oversampling for eligible participants who are Black, Latinx, and/or female.

Plan sponsors discussed CFERS - an initiative focused on bridging the gender and racial wealth gaps in DC plans. Guest speakers from EBSA and Morgan Lewis provided the DOL’s viewpoints on several hot topics on the current DOL agenda with guidance on what plan sponsors should understand to navigate DOL regulations and put them into practice.

Plan sponsors discussed CFERS - an initiative focused on bridging the gender and racial wealth gaps in DC plans. Guest speakers from EBSA and Morgan Lewis provided the DOL’s viewpoints on several hot topics on the current DOL agenda with guidance on what plan sponsors should understand to navigate DOL regulations and put them into practice.