Financial advisors are increasingly able to convert defined contribution (DC) plan participants they counsel into wealth clients, according to a new report from the FUSE Research Network. The trend is more prevalent among advisors managing over $500 million in assets, but advisors with lower AUMs are making inroads as well.
According to FUSE’s online survey of over 500 financial advisors across all channels, the majority were able to convert at least 6% of DC plan participants they worked with into wealth clients. Slightly less than a fifth (17%) were able to convert between 6% and 10%. A quarter turned 11% to 20% of DC plan users into wealth clients. A fifth said their conversion rate reached above 21%. However, roughly a quarter of all advisors (24%) have not converted any DC plan participants into wealth clients.
While this was the first time FUSE conducted a survey on conversion rates, Loren Fox, co-manager of Advisor Insight, FUSE Research Network’s advisor benchmarking service, said conversations with advisors indicated a considerable acceleration in the conversion rates of DC plan participants into wealth clients compared to five years ago.
“One of the things that leads us to believe this represents a significant acceleration is the increased activity we’ve seen around the convergence of retirement and wealth planning services,” Fox said. He brought up the example of RIA shop Creative Planning buying retirement-focused practices, such as SageView Advisory Group, to improve its ability to crossover between those services. According to AdvizorPro data, over 6,500 RIAs explicitly served retirement plans as clients in 2025.
The overall conversion rate is highest for advisors managing over $500 million in assets. A full 41% of these advisors have converted 15% or more of DC plan users into their wealth clients. Among advisors with less than $100 million in AUM, that figure is just 28%.
Advisors with between $100 million and $250 million in assets tend to have high success rates as well. Almost a fifth (18%) of advisors in that category achieved a conversion rate between 16% and 20%. In addition, 8% of these advisors achieved a conversion rate of 21% to 25%, on par with those managing over $500 million in assets.
Among advisors with over $500 million in assets 17% converted a quarter or more of DC plan participants into wealth clients.
FUSE Research Network credits the higher conversion rates to the fact that more DC plan sponsors now offer financial wellness programs to their participants. The programs allow advisors to engage directly with end-users, FUSE notes. Almost 60% of surveyed advisors said they give holistic advice to DC plan participants in one-on-one consultations.
“The point about providing more of these financial wellness services, like holistic investment advice and one-on-one consultation, is pretty similar across advisors of all book sizes. That’s a very encouraging sign because that’s such an important part of this conversion trend,” Fox said. “As we see more DC plans having these value-add services, whether it’s education, income guidance, other financial wellness services, that’s going to contribute to the conversion of plan participants into wealth clients for advisors of all sizes.”
The trend is significant because a majority of advisors (65%) said converting DC plan participants into new clients is easier than seeking new clients through traditional marketing or referral efforts. “Advisors are increasingly willing to serve a handful of DC plans—often 401(k) plans tied to existing business-owner clients—because participants represent one of the most efficient sources of new wealth relationships,” Fox said in a statement.
However, many financial advisors continue to stay clear of working with DC plan sponsors. Over a quarter (26%) don’t work with any DC plans, and just 9% work with more than 20 plans.
