Plan participants surf a lot, trade just a little

CHICAGO — Retirement plan participants said they were comfortable surfing their plan sponsors’ websites, but they conducted very few transactions on the websites, according to two new surveys.
The surveys, which were conducted as part of two studies by Spectrem Group of Chicago, found that just 15% of participants surveyed said that they changed contribution allocations online, while 9% said they transferred funds among investment options online. But two-thirds said they visited the plan sponsor’s websites at least once a month.
The surveys showed that participants were comfortable making other online financial transactions, with 83% saying that they had conducted online banking transactions in the previous three months.
Participants don’t want to be day traders, and Gerry O’Connor, a director at Spectrem, said he isn’t surprised that few participants are switching investment options online.
The studies, which took place in the spring, were separate and included online surveys of about 400 people.
Spectrem’s surveys showed that just 25% of participants were satisfied or very satisfied with using their plan sponsor’s website. And 67% said they didn’t take advantage of the educational materials available on their plan sponsor’s website.
Meanwhile, 63% also said they would like e-mail alerts about pertinent information related to their retirement plans, such as when certain funds spiked up or down.
Plan providers need to enhance their online offerings and make sure plan participants visit more areas of the website, Mr. O’Connor said. “The website can help you deepen that relationship, and maybe you can attract other assets,” he said.