In the late 1990s, it became clear to many investment experts that despite all the resources used to educate participants on how to invest in 401(k) plans, most of those resources were wasted. Participants made one of three choices: 1) they did what their friends did; 2) they kept most of their plan assets in company stock; or 3) they did nothing and defaulted into a cash option. 

Some investment advisors saw this problem as a lack of expertise. They thought what participants needed was good advice from investment professionals. All that was needed was a systematic way to tell participants how to invest, and they would do it.

For the most part, that line of reasoning proved to be wrong. Most participants chose not to get any advice, and those that did rarely took it.