Employer-sponsored retirement plans, including 401(k)s, could soon feature menu items many advisors and workers probably never expected. Those include cryptocurrency, private credit and equity and real estate with the last being docile by comparison.

President Trump recently unveiled executive orders that open the door for the aforementioned asset classes to be included in workplace retirement plans. Putting partisan politics aside, expanded 401(k) offerings must be acknowledged by advisors because a logical result of more choices is more questions from clients.

Broadly speaking, plan providers have long provided workers with relatively bland choices in employer-sponsored plans. That’s by design, but investors and employees are increasingly savvy and sophisticated. Should assets such as private equity and crypto matriculate into 401(k) plans, curiosity is going to follow, particularly in those two cases because private equity and crypto are attention-getters.

Advisors may be able to grab some sort of respite because prevailing expectations indicate that it could be several years before the aforementioned offerings appear in a broad swath of retirement plans, but plenty of data points indicate it’d be wise to start preparing today.

The Interest Is There

Schroders 2025 U. S. Retirement Survey confirms workers are already intrigued about private assets becoming available in employer-sponsored plans.

“According to the Schroders 2025 US Retirement Survey, 45% of investors participating in 401k, 403b or 457 workplace retirement savings plans say they would invest in private equity and private debt investments if their plan provided access to these assets – up from 36% in 2024,” notes the money manager. “Further, among plan participants who would invest in private assets, if offered, more than three-in-four (77%) would increase their contribution to their retirement savings plan. ”

That percentage isn’t surprising because “private” as it relates to investing has a way of conjuring strong emotions and interest. When attached to financial markets, that word often implies an aura of exclusivity. Think of it as the country club with walls and ivy-covered fences.

All that said, workers appear restrained when it comes to how much they’re willing to allocate to private credit/equity. Fifty-one percent of those polled by Schroders said that if private assets become available in workplace retirement plans, they’d allocate up to 10% of funds to those assets while another 36% said they go as 10% to 15%.

Those percentages are indicative of worker interest in private assets, but also a willingness to be somewhat measured. Those data points also signal a need for improved client education on private assets.

Speaking of Education…

Some other points from the Schroders survey highlight the need for better education as it relates to private/credit equity. Roughly three-quarters of those surveyed believe private assets can improve a portfolio’s diversity or provide greater returns. The former is arguably true, but some widely known private equity gauges have lagged the S&P 500 for extended holding periods. Plus, some clients admit they’re private assets knowledge base isn’t where it needs to be.

“Further highlighting the need for more education, just 12% of plan participants consider themselves very knowledgeable about private assets, 40% are somewhat knowledgeable, 30% are not too knowledgeable, and 18% are not at all knowledgeable,” adds Schroders.

Point is advisors can be helpful to clients in this era of expanded 401(k) offerings simply by being there, acting as sounding boards and articulating the risks associated with being too bold in a workplace retirement plan.