Episode 67: PIMCO DC Consultant Study

For 18 years, the PIMCO has conducted its annual U.S. Defined Contribution Consulting Study. One of the longest-running studies of its kind, it aims to understand what retirement consultants are thinking, seeing, and planning to do next. The firm interviews some of the most influential DC-focused consultants in the country, including advisors at CAPTRUST. The respondents this year represent 15,000 U.S. retirement plans and almost $9 trillion in assets.

In this episode of Revamping Retirement, your hosts Matt Patrick and Peter Ruffel welcome PIMCO’s Vidur Mehra and Joseph Szalay to find out what’s trending, what’s challenging, and what’s new the world of defined contributions, from plan design to evaluating retirement income solutions.

IMPORTANT NOTICEPlease note that this podcast contains the opinions of the managers as of the date recorded, and may not have been updated to reflect real time market developments. All opinions are subject to change without notice. PIMCO is not responsible for the information or views communicated by representatives of other companies. This material is not indicative of the past or future performance of any PIMCO product and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation by PIMCO of any particular security, strategy or investment product. PIMCO has distributed this material for informational purposes only.

The 2024 PIMCO US Defined Contribution Consulting Study seeks to help consultants, advisors and plan sponsors understand the breadth of views and consulting services available within the defined contribution (DC) marketplace. The 2024 study captures data, trends and opinions from 28 consulting and advisory firms who serve over 15,379 clients with aggregate DC assets in excess of $7.94 trillion. All responses were collected from January 8, 2024 through February 26, 2024.

All investments contain risk and may lose value. Investing in the bond market is subject to risks, including market, interest rate, issuer, credit, inflation risk, and liquidity risk. The value of most bonds and bond strategies are impacted by changes in interest rates. Bonds and bond strategies with longer durations tend to be more sensitive and volatile than those with shorter durations; bond prices generally fall as interest rates rise, and low interest rate environments increase this risk. Reductions in bond counterparty capacity may contribute to decreased market liquidity and increased price volatility. Bond investments may be worth more or less than the original cost when redeemed. Commodities contain heightened risk, including market, political, regulatory and natural conditions, and may not be appropriate for all investors. Investing in foreign-denominated and/or -domiciled securities may involve heightened risk due to currency fluctuations, and economic and political risks, which may be enhanced in emerging markets. High yield, lower-rated securities involve greater risk than higher-rated securities; portfolios that invest in them may be subject to greater levels of credit and liquidity risk than portfolios that do not. Inflation-linked bonds (ILBs) issued by the various governments around the world are fixed-income securities whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. Repayment upon maturity of the original principal as adjusted for inflation is guaranteed by the government that issues them. Neither the current market value of inflation-indexed bonds nor the value a portfolio that invests in ILBs is guaranteed, and either or both may fluctuate. ILBs decline in value when real interest rates rise. In certain interest rate environments, such as when real interest rates are rising faster than nominal interest rates, ILBs may experience greater losses than other fixed income securities with similar durations. The value of real estate and portfolios that invest in real estate may fluctuate due to: losses f