What’s going to take off this year? Fidelity's 401(k) team puttogether a list of trends it believes will gain a lot of tractionin the coming months, including higher adoption of Roth 401(k) andmanaged account options.

1. Self-directed brokerage windows. To giveparticipants more investment choices, employers are offeringself-directed brokerage options that allow them to invest inoptions outside of the company’s fund lineup. Brokerage windowscontinue to gain in popularity, with about 26 percent more assetsin 2013 than in 2012, Fidelity found. It also found that there were18 percent more participants using brokerage windows in 2013 thanin 2012.

2. Roth 401(k)s.Employers continue to add Roth 401(k) features to their plans as away to help participants manage the uncertainty of tax rates in thefuture. According to Fidelity, as of Sept. 30, 2013, about 42percent of 401(k) plans offered a Roth 401(k) savings option, upfrom 21 percent in 2009. As more employers add a Roth option,participation adoption and utilization will continue toincrease.

3. Expansion of“auto” features. According to Fidelity, nearly one-quarterof 401(k) plans offer auto enrollment, up from 17 percent in 2009.Among large plans, 60 percent have adopted auto enrollment, whichis having a positive impact on participation rates. Plans with autoenrollment have an 84 percent participation rate compared to 53percent for plans without auto enrollment. When combined with autoescalation features, the numbers improve even more.

4. Understanding how your plan compares to otherplans. An increasing number of employers want to know howtheir plan design and participant behaviors compare to othercompany plans. They also want to understand whether their employeesare prepared for retirement. Through the use of new tools andservices, employers will be able to get specific in theircomparisons and find out if employees are taking the right stepstoward a successful retirement, Fidelity said.

5. Increasing use of high deductible health plans. Ashigh-deductible plans become more popular, companies will startmaking health savings accounts available to help employees save forboth current and future health costs in a tax-advantagedaccount.

6. Managedaccount options. Fidelity noted that one-third of 401(k)participants had 100 percent of their retirement plan assets in atarget-date fund, up from just 3 percent 10years ago. For younger workers, 55 percent had all of their assetsin a TDF. Nearly 1,800 plans now offer a professionally managedaccount option, up from 489 in the third quarter of 2009, Fidelityfound.

7. Plansponsors concerned with retirement outcomes. Plan sponsorsare taking an active interest in the retirement outcomes of theiremployees. Instead of just providing a defined contribution planfor employees and forgetting about it, they are designing“outcome-based” plans. Companies will continue to leverage newtechnology and measurement tools to help their workforce understandhow to make the best use of their plan and realize what theirsavings will provide when they reach retirement.