Defined contribution plans like 401(k)s are accused of many shortcomings when it comes to helping workers save for retirement, including the fact that plan participants often do a poor job of picking their investments. A 2015 study of 620 plan sponsors by Cogent Reports found that almost four out of 10 thought participants invested too conservatively, and only 42% said their participants were on track for a financially secure retirement.

Now one of the robo-advisers that provide online portfolio management for individual investors has moved into the 401(k) space to help employees with their asset allocation decisions. It remains to be seen whether this innovation will take off in 401(k) plans.

The new entrant, Betterment for Business, is a unit of Betterment, a robo platform that has accumulated $3.6 billion in assets since it launched in 2010.