A perspective on contribution, collaboration, and the future of the retirement industry
The retirement plan industry is evolving. Sustainable growth is no longer driven by isolated competition or firm-by-firm scale. It is increasingly shaped by collaboration, alignment, and shared outcomes across the ecosystem.… Read More
It’s 2026, and the term “Third Party Administrator” no longer fully reflects the reality of the work.
Members of The Asteri Collective identify as Retirement Plan Consultants (RPCs) because their role extends far beyond administration. Today’s RPCs advise on plan design, interpret regulatory change, navigate payroll and data dependencies, and coordinate across recordkeepers, advisors, DCIOs, broker-dealers and other technology solutions partners.… Read More
The defined contribution ecosystem has reached a structural inflection point. Total DC assets now exceed $12 trillion across more than 120 million participant accounts, reflecting the full retirement system spanning bundled, unbundled, advisory, and institutional channels. Within that broader universe, the DCIO segment represents approximately $11.3 trillion across roughly 730,000 plans and 85 million participants, a critical distinction that underscores both scale and specialization.… Read More
The retirement plan industry has tolerated operational friction for far too long. Legacy systems, batch delays, costly one-off integrations, and siloed data have slowed down every stakeholder in the ecosystem. Recordkeepers, RPCs, payroll providers, HRIS platforms, DCIOs, advisors, CPAs, broker-dealers, and plan sponsors all feel the operational drag.… Read More
The relationship between recordkeepers and plan consultants is changing, whether the industry formally acknowledges it or not.
For years, partnerships were often defined by sponsorships, preferred provider lists, or one-off initiatives that looked good on paper but did little to improve execution at the plan level.… Read More
Every few years, payroll integration reenters the industry conversation as if it were something new. It isn’t. What’s changed is the expectation that it actually works reliably, consistently, and at scale.
For RPCs, payroll integration is not about chasing technology trends or competing with recordkeepers.… Read More
The Defined Contribution Investment Only (DCIO) market sits at a rare intersection of growth and compression. Assets continue to climb, $11.3 trillion across 730,000 plans and 85 million participants*, yet margins are tightening as automation, litigation, and scale reshape how value is measured and rewarded.… Read More
