AI Technology ‘Key Differentiator’ Among Retirement Plan Websites
Firms investing in artificial intelligence (AI) technology are seeing “significant” gains in their digital experiences, reports Corporate Insight’s latest DC Plan Participant Website Experience Benchmark.
“AI implementation is paying real dividends for early adopters,” says Kara Sostar, retirement research manager at Corporate Insight (CI). “Providers that invested in AI-powered features across search, virtual assistance, and personalized content delivery in 2024 are seeing measurable score improvements this year. Firms making strategic investments in the right digital areas can quickly create meaningful competitive advantages.”
Two examples are Fidelity and TIAA, who both maintained their leadership positions from last year’s study. Fidelity retained the top spot for a third year in a row with a score of 86 points out of 100 while TIAA came in at second place with 85 points. TIAA also earned the top three finishes in all six categories, according to CI.
Empower and T. Rowe Price tied for third place, at 79 points. T. Rowe Price saw a four-point increase compared to last year due to its “Contribution Details” page and “SmartVideo” features aimed at connecting clients with personalized guidance.
While it didn’t place in the top rankings, Transamerica gained a five-point increase and moved three spots up to hit eighth place.
Industrywide, firms are investing in their digital experiences, as the average score in CI’s research increased from 68 to 70 points.
CI acknowledged AI-powered capabilities as the “key differentiator” between top scorers and other rankers. This included Fidelity’s Financial Wellness dashboard, TIAA’s FAQ-style search results, and Alight’s LumenAI summaries, CI observes. “We also saw 14 firms improve their scores in the Support category,” said Sostar. “Virtual assistants continue as an area to watch, with AI implementation and expanded help content setting a new standard.”
Other popular features among clients include account information tools, which experienced a four-point increase. Eighty-nine percent of survey respondents also described account balance information as “very” or “extremely” important.
Additional top retirement web features were security settings (87%), privacy preferences (85%), account statements (83%), contribution rates/amount (83%), transaction confirmations (81%), personal rate of return (81%), and gain/loss data (80%), among others.
Corporate Insight’s DC Plan Participant Website Experience Benchmark evaluated retirement provider websites using a three-tiered framework of six categories, 28 subcategories, and over 115 attributes covering digital functionality, design, navigation, and usability.
Organizations who participated in the 2025 DC Plan Participant Website Experience Benchmark were Alight, American Funds PlanPremier, American Funds RecordkeeperDirect, Charles Schwab, Corebridge Financial, Empower, Equitable, Fidelity, Lincoln Financial, Merrill, Nationwide, Principal, T. Rowe Price, TIAA, Transamerica, TruStage, Vanguard, and Voya Financial.
Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with nearly a decade of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado.