A platform to elevate your knowledge

A conversation between Kelby Meyers, Founder and CEO of Nestimate and Brendan McCarthy, Head of Retirement Investing, Nuveen.

At Nuveen, we believe that advisors need the right tools to be able to properly analyze and understand the complexities and differences that make each new target date fund and lifetime income product coming to market stand apart. Product development never stands still, but it is important to wrap your arms around it to properly explain to plan sponsors what they are looking to implement. With that in mind, I spoke with Kelby Meyers of Nestimate to go through their platform and how it might help advisors.

McCarthy: So, Kelby, thanks for taking the time today. If you could just walk us through the Nestimate platform and what it offers. What is the origin of the platform?

Meyers: The origin of Nestimate really goes back to the period following the SECURE Act when I was working in the distribution of retail income products. I was reading the legislation and I knew then that this was going to dramatically impact 401(k) plans, perhaps even evolving retirement plans from savings vehicles into true plans for retirement. Soon after, there was a tremendous amount of buzz around lifetime income solutions, but there wasn’t a centralized place where advisors or consultants could go to get reliable data on these new products. That was the first problem we set out to solve, namely to create a central data source that allowed advisors to evaluate and familiarize themselves with these solutions in a structured way.

The second challenge was that many advisors simply weren’t as familiar with guaranteed income products as they are with traditional investment options. They needed a framework to help determine which type of solution best aligned with the goals and needs of a particular plan. So, we built that framework into a scalable due diligence platform that helps advisors evaluate solutions, implement them appropriately, obtain Safe Harbor protections, and conduct ongoing monitoring.

As the market evolved, we also recognized that many lifetime income solutions were most effective when embedded within default investments. That meant advisors needed to evaluate not just the income component, but also the investment vehicle itself. That realization led to the creation of Target Date Fund IQ, a modern, agnostic target date fund analyzer that allows advisors to evaluate target date strategies, including new asset classes like annuities, within a single framework. We recognized that you could not evaluate the asset manager and automatically accept the income solution as part of that glide path or vice versa, but ensure both components stand alone as well as the particular way they are commingled. TDF IQ was built upon this principle and provides advisors with additional lenses to evaluate in a plan-centric way.

Ultimately, Nestimate is about giving advisors the tools and confidence they need to thoughtfully evaluate lifetime income solutions and integrate them into retirement plans in a responsible, defensible way.

McCarthy: With the complexity of these products, and as lifetime income becomes more prevalent across recordkeepers and product providers, where do you see the gaps in education?

Meyers: It’s really incredible to see the momentum building across the industry. Recordkeepers are expanding their offerings so that those that previously offered just a single proprietary income product are now offering suites of five or six different options, and those that didn’t have a solution at all are moving quickly to adopt one. Additionally, many asset managers, including some of the most established names in the space, are now committed to strategies that include embedded income solutions.

What that signals to me is that there was a significant amount of pent-up demand. Many advisors were interested in these solutions but were essentially waiting for availability. Now, at an increasing rate, those options are finally available.

That said, there is still a considerable amount of work to do when it comes to education. I recently presented to a room full of retirement plan advisors and began by asking how many were familiar with guaranteed income solutions in general. Only one person raised their hand. This experience is consistent. I believe it’s largely a byproduct of the retirement plan advisory community historically being much more focused on the accumulation phase than on decumulation. Then you throw in the “A word” and sometimes the reaction is immediate skepticism. Over time, I believe these products become as familiar as any other investment in the lineup. For advisors who are just beginning their dive into income, there is still time to be at the forefront. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Nestimate’s whole goal is to expedite advisor expertise, whether that’s through general education, product evaluation tools, or confidently presenting and implementing these solutions within a plan. We have discovered that advisors have generally been educated about these solutions by the product providers. Our team has discovered tremendous value in entering educational conversations through our third-party framework so we are positioned to help bridge the gap between solutions and fiduciaries.

McCarthy: We just announced a new partnership between Nuveen and yourselves to help get your tool into the hands of advisors. Why are you partnering with Nuveen, and what outcomes do you hope this partnership will create for advisors and plan sponsors?

Meyers: We’re excited about partnering with Nuveen because of their long-standing leadership and commitment to retirement income security. Along with TIAA, they’ve been focused on helping Americans achieve secure retirement income for more than a century. Additionally, you can’t be in the room with anyone from Nuveen from leadership to the event staff and not tangibly feel their heart is genuinely in it.

That mission aligns closely with ours. At Nestimate, we believe lifetime income solutions have the potential to enhance income security for many participants, yet unfortunately most do not have access. Our goal is to equip fiduciaries with the tools and confidence they need to evaluate the solutions objectively and responsibly so that participants have that opportunity. When organizations share that commitment to improving retirement outcomes, it creates a natural partnership.

For advisors and plan sponsors, this collaboration ultimately means more support and more clarity. Through Nuveen, advisors can use the Nestimate platform to determine whether a lifetime income solution makes sense for a specific plan and its participant base. If it does, the platform solution best aligns with the plan’s goals and objectives.

When we keep the end participant in mind, the goal is simple: better retirement outcomes. Working with a partner like Nuveen helps expand access to thoughtful evaluation tools so more advisors and sponsors can confidently navigate the due diligence process and consider solutions that may improve retirement security for participants.

McCarthy: With this newfound momentum, as much as we are driving this there are still hurdles. What is your forecast for lifetime income adoption? Is 2026 the breakout year many are expecting?

Meyers: I wish I had a crystal ball, but what we’re seeing in the market is encouraging. Anecdotally, the conversations we’re having with advisors have shifted quite a bit. Not long ago, many viewed Nestimate as something they might need “someday.” Now the conversation is often, “We have a plan actively adding income, and we need your platform to help us evaluate and select the right solution.” It’s been exciting to watch that mindset change. We’re seeing advisors win business on the platform because they were the first to present it in a way that made sense to the sponsor.

Recent research from Sway shows that target date funds with embedded income options surpassed $139 billion in assets in 2025, representing a 39% year-overyear increase. Based on what we’re hearing in the marketplace, particularly as adoption begins to move in the midmarket and larger plans, my expectation is that we could see that number grow by over 50% year over year in 2026.

It certainly feels like we’re reaching an inflection point. Lifetime income solutions have shifted from a concept we were talking about to actual implementation across the industry. That’s reflected in the research just mentioned and the response by new product entrants not wanting to get left behind. Advisors can’t remain on the sidelines any longer. They will either be the ones delivering an income option to their plans or someone else will.

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