Expertise in Retirement Plan Governance, Target-Date Funds and Behavioral Finance
Four subjects run through everything Brian researches, writes and advises on. Each starts from the same premise: most retirement outcomes are set by defaults, and someone has to govern them.
Retirement Plan & Investment Governance
A default investment is a fiduciary decision that most participants never revisit, so the committee's process is the safeguard. Brian's governance work covers how a plan selects its qualified default investment alternative (QDIA), how it benchmarks the choice, and how it records the reasoning, the process his independent governance advisory puts in writing.
Behavioral Finance & Decision-Making
Defaults work because people rarely change them, and that inertia is a behavior, not a flaw. Brian's doctoral research found that firms with the highest ESG scores saw a stock-price gain about 130 basis points larger after a credit-rating upgrade, evidence consistent with confirmation bias. The same instincts shape allocation and plan design, a theme he takes up in his essays on retirement plan defaults.
Target-Date Fund Architecture
A glide path is the schedule that moves a fund from growth toward safety as its target year approaches. Beneath it sit choices the label never mentions: how much is held outside the U.S., how much is actively managed, whether managers may make tactical shifts, and what the fund costs. Those choices are the subject of his book on target-date funds.
Research, Speaking & Advisory
Brian's research draws on two decades at Fidelity and a doctorate in finance. He presents to fiduciary and investment audiences, including the Chicago Fiduciary Forum (2026) and the Boston Fiduciary and Investment Lunch & Learn (2024 and 2025), and he advises committees and advisors independently.
Selected research
- Leite, B. J., & Uysal, V. B. (2023). "Does ESG Matter to Investors? ESG Scores and the Stock Price Response to New Information." Global Finance Journal, 57, 100851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfj.2023.100851
- Maloor, S., Sumsion, B., & Leite, B. J. (2017). "Using Regime-Based Analysis to Build a Resilient Glide Path." Fidelity Leadership Series.
- Leite, B. J., Taylor, K., & Shaw, A. (2016). "Effective Plan Design and Glide Path Choices Can Help Drive Better Outcomes." BenefitsPRO Magazine.
- Cohen, T., Nielson, D., Leite, B. J., & Browder, A. (2014). "Active Share: A Misunderstood Measure in Manager Selection." Fidelity Leadership Series.
- Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WA6iHlkAAAAJ
Frequently asked questions
What is a target-date fund?
A target-date fund is a diversified retirement fund named for an approximate retirement year, such as 2045. It holds mostly stocks when that year is far away and shifts toward bonds and other steadier assets as the date approaches, following a preset schedule called a glide path. Many 401(k) plans use one as their default investment, so many participants hold one without ever choosing it.
What is a glide path?
A glide path is the schedule a target-date fund follows to move from growth-oriented investments to more conservative ones over time. It decides how much of your money is in stocks at 25, at 45, at retirement, and after. Two funds with the same target year can follow very different glide paths, which is why the year on the label tells you less than the path behind it.
Why can two 2035 target-date funds perform so differently?
Because the label only fixes the year. Providers make different choices behind it: how much they hold in stocks at each age, how much outside the U.S., how much is actively managed rather than indexed, whether managers can make tactical shifts, and what the fund costs. Small differences in those choices compound over decades into meaningfully different results.
Are target-date funds actively or passively managed?
Both kinds exist. Some target-date funds are built entirely from index funds, some from actively managed funds, and many blend the two. The mix matters because active management generally costs more and adds manager risk, and a fund marketed as passive can still carry active elements, a risk Dr. Leite examines in The Retirement Black Box. The fund's underlying holdings and fee disclosures show which it is.
What is a QDIA?
A QDIA, or qualified default investment alternative, is the investment a 401(k) or similar plan uses for participants who are enrolled but haven't chosen how to invest. It was created under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and Department of Labor rules give plan sponsors a defined path for using certain defaults, including target-date funds, balanced funds and managed accounts. Because most participants never change it, the QDIA shapes most retirements, and the plan committee is responsible for governing it.
Let's Talk
Questions about a fund lineup, an event you're planning, or a story you're working on. Send a note and Brian will get back to you.