Advisory Services

Are your defined contribution plan decisions directed by an established set of fundamental beliefs and guiding principles? Getting the right advice and guidance can make a big difference on your investment decisions and outcomes for complete retirement programs or even project-based work. We cover our continuum of advisory services, from investment and retirement consulting to fiduciary fund management.

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Investment consultant by global Assets Under Advisement1

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Solutions provide a framework that enables the generation of adequate and sustainable incomes

 

Mercer Advisory Services

 

As a DC plan sponsor, you have diverse needs depending on your business size, your strategic focus and growth goals, as well as any evolving changes in legislation, regulations, and industry trends that could impact the needs of your plan participants. What worked three to five years ago, may not be the best approach for today or tomorrow. Our advisory services can help by providing a broad range of advice and counsel on ways to make better decisions on your retirement plans.

 

To provide your organization with the best advice possible, we leverage our world-class research that gives us the deep insights you require to move closer to your defined contribution plan goals. Our extensive research (both quantitative and qualitative analysis) highlights trends, macroeconomic issues, and other factors that ensure we provide the latest investment and retirement plan information to ultimately help you make better decisions for your retirement plan. 

 

 

Defined Contribution Investing — A Look Through the DC Lens

 

DC plans have become the primary source of retirement income for many workers around the world. With this trend, the focus has moved from legacy-defined benefit arrangements to offering best-in-class DC programs. As a fiduciary, that means you have to look for ways to improve the plan and facilitate the effective investment of your plan participant’s assets — that’s your top priority. 

 

It’s important to consider how the following constraints impact the investment strategies for your DC plan: 

 

  • Participants are the key decision makers, not the fiduciary. The fiduciary’s role is to control the investment options available to your participants and to assist in helping them make the best decisions possible. 
  • Participants needs are not uniform — some consideration should be given to minority participants. 
  • While fees and expenses can impair benefits over a participants’ working life, they should not be considered in isolation. We recommend targeting best net-of-fee and expense outcomes. 
  • Liquidity and regular (fair) pricing are key considerations; however, this does not mean that illiquid or less regularly priced investments cannot be accommodated as part of a fund offered to participants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Achieve Greater Prosperity —
Build a Successful DC
Program, and Focus on
Better Participant
Outcomes.

 


The Right Investment Approach Meets the Needs of Your Participants

Across a diversified DC participant base, we generally see the following groups and encourage fiduciaries to keep this in mind when structuring the plan line-up — this way you can respond to the specific needs of each group.

 

          Please See Important Notices For Further Information.

          1  Pensions & Investments. Pensions & Investments Survey, November 27, 2017. Please see “Important Notices” for more information on Assets Under Management and Assets Under Advisement.

         2 This information is as of June 30, 2018.

 

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