Fidelity sees huge auto enrollment boost in 2006

Automatic enrollment in defined contribution plans surged in 2006, up 95% from the year before among the more than 15,000 such plans overseen by Fidelity Investments. Also, the number of savings plans using Fidelity's target-date Freedom Funds as a default option increased 130% from the year before. And Fidelity's survey of 400 plan sponsors last fall suggests those trends should continue: 44% of respondents that don't currently have automatic enrollment said they are considering adoption, and 31% are considering using lifecycle funds as their plans' default option.