Rollover Data Pushes Advisors To Build Relationships Earlier

InvestorCOM found that 44% of 50,000 retirement-plan rollovers occurred before account holders reached age 59½, challenging the view that rollover activity is mainly tied to retirement. The findings were presented during a webinar last month and suggest advisors need to build relationships with savers before job changes, distributions or retirement decisions.

The analysis covered transactions recorded during the 12 months ending in September 2026. The average rollover exceeded $300,000, while 58% of transactions involved more than $100,000. Rollover values increased with age, though the data showed substantial activity among savers in their 40s and 50s.

At age 59½, most savers can take penalty-free distributions from 401(k) plans and other workplace accounts, as well as traditional and Roth individual retirement accounts. InvestorCOM’s data found that many savers move retirement assets earlier, including after changing jobs or leaving an employer.

“If you’re meeting an employee at the moment of termination or distribution from an employer, you’re too late — like, sorry, you haven’t earned that business,” Brian Brashaw, vice president of employer plan solutions at Merit Financial Advisors, said during the webinar. He described participant support as a process that often begins long before a saver becomes a wealth management client.

The transactions were concentrated among several employer groups. Healthcare providers accounted for 17% of rollovers, followed by telecom and media at 13%; banking, insurance and professional services at 12%; automotive and industrial manufacturing at 11%; aerospace and defense at 9%; and technology and retail and consumer goods at 8% each.

InvestorCOM’s report found that advisors who combine transaction data with planned outreach can identify potential rollover opportunities before assets leave an employer plan. Technology can reduce paperwork and delays that discourage savers from consolidating retirement accounts.

“Most folks want one account,” Anuraag Tripathi, chief executive of retirement software company Manifest, said during the webinar. He described tools developed by his firm that reduce the time needed to complete a rollover to less than 10 minutes of effort.

Advisors face competition from retirement-plan administrators and aggregators that have expanded into wealth management. Joshua Deitch, head of U.S. insights at NMG Consulting, reported that wealth management services are now common among those firms. He also noted that retirement-plan specialists face lower fees and pressure on profit margins, particularly when they rely on large plans and fixed-fee arrangements.

Firms seeking rollover business must decide whether to build their own technology, buy a platform or work with an outside provider. The systems may need to support recordkeeping, compliance oversight, regulatory changes and connections between workplace retirement plans and broader financial planning systems.

Bonnie Treichel, founder and chief solutions officer of Endeavor Retirement, described retirement advice as subject to requirements from the Labor Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and the two Secure Acts. The rules differ in their fiduciary requirements, while the standards for advice are becoming more similar.