Survey of the Retirement Landscape: Plan Sponsor Perceptions

From mid-January to mid-February 2025, Voya Investment Management (Voya IM) repeated its biennial online survey of retirement plan sponsors to take the temperature of the retirement landscape. The survey sought feedback on a range of concerns such as plan support, investments, participant support, regulatory and compliance issues, and plan costs and fees. 

Previous waves of the survey were conducted in March 2023 and 2021, and December 2018. 

Certain exhibits distinguish plan sponsor segments by size of plan. The study divided sponsors into three segments: plans with $1 million to less than $5 million, plans with $5 million to less than $25 million, and plans with more than $25 million. Details on the definitions and methodologies of the study can be found in the appendix. Some exhibits may not sum due to rounding.

• Sponsors continued to overestimate participant retirement readiness—although a significantly higher number of participants said they feel somewhat or very prepared for retirement compared with 2023.
• Ensuring the plan’s regulatory compliance and reducing plan fees were the two most important areas of short-term focus for sponsors. Improving plan participation and helping participants transition to retirement were also top concerns.
• As they did in 2023, sponsors said they value guidance from their plan advisors (defined contribution specialists) on retirement income investment options more than any other services. Education on fiduciary responsibility and assistance with investment selection and monitoring were also cited as high-value services.
• Annualized performance and historical rolling returns were the most important investment selection factors that sponsors consider, while other factors (such as R- squared and Sortino ratio) were lesser priorities.
• Sponsors recognized that an aging participant base has brought focus on the growing need for retirement income products.
• Since 2021, sponsors have increased their adoption of financial wellness programs and tools.
• Sponsors continued to underestimate participant caregiving responsibilities, but consider caregiver financial needs an important area of focus in the next two years.

Welcome to the fourth edition of Voya Investment Management’s survey of retirement plan sponsors. The survey seeks to offer perspectives on sponsors’ priorities, the challenges they face, and the services they may need. The findings may be helpful in putting your own plan’s priorities, challenges, and needs into context. 

Economic backdrop

Our survey was conducted from mid-January to mid-February 2025, coinciding with the first weeks of the second Trump administration. 

As respondents were completing the survey, the U.S. appeared to be emerging from the pandemic’s long-tailed aftershocks stronger than before. The cloud of inflation hanging over markets had slowly started to dissipate, unemployment was below historical norms, and markets had embraced the pro-growth prospects of deregulation and tax cuts. 

Participant retirement readiness 

The number of sponsors who believed participants feel at least somewhat prepared for retirement inched up to 91%, from 87% in our 2023 survey. By contrast, plan participants felt less prepared, with only 69% indicating they feel this way (an increase from 63% in 2023).