Human Interest Pushes Fee-Transparent 401(k) Model as New Data Shows SMBs Hit by Hidden Costs

New updates have been reported about Human Interest.

Human Interest has released new survey data showing that unexpected retirement plan fees are imposing material costs on small and mid-sized businesses, and is using the findings to reinforce its fee-transparent 401(k) strategy. The company surveyed 500 non-customer benefits decision-makers and found that 63% of SMBs incur unanticipated transaction, administrative, and service fees—often for mandatory or routine plan functions—which, in some cases, have led employers to cancel plans.

According to the research, add-on services and plan-event fees can consume up to 60% of total plan costs, while 73% of respondents said these charges inflated overall benefits expenses and forced tradeoffs that ultimately impact employees. Human Interest executives argue that these structures erode retirement outcomes, especially for lower-balance participants, and highlight that employers spend an average of 4.2 hours per week managing fee-related issues, equating to roughly $12,870 a year in administrative time.

The report also challenges the perceived cost efficiency of pooled employer plans, with PEP sponsors in the survey more likely than standalone 401(k) sponsors to pay surprise fees (89% vs. 53%), report about 65% higher total annual plan costs, and spend 81% more time on plan management. Despite PEPs being pitched as a way to offload fiduciary risk, 24% of PEP sponsors still engaged ERISA counsel, undermining the simplicity narrative that has supported that market segment.

Strategically, Human Interest positions these pain points as a market opening for its bundled, flat-fee model, which eliminates 401(k) transaction fees for sponsors and participants and publishes pricing online. The company estimates that industry-wide transaction fees may have approached $4 billion in 2025 and says it helped its own customers avoid more than $50 million of those costs, reinforcing its value proposition to cost-conscious SMBs.

With more than 45,000 employers on its platform, Human Interest is framing transparent, predictable pricing and guarantees on service and pricing as differentiators in a fragmented, legacy-driven retirement market. For executives at small and mid-sized firms, the data underscores the need to scrutinize retirement plan fee structures, particularly PEP offerings, and suggests that shifting to a transparent, no-transaction-fee provider could reduce both hard costs and administrative burden while improving employee retirement outcomes.