Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.’s MMC business Mercer recently announced that its retirement plan solution has crossed the $1 billion mark in assets under management (AUM). Notably, Mercer Wise 401(k), which is a bundled solution, is part of Mercer’s expanding Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) business.Launched back in 2017, Mercer Wise 401(k) solution enables Mercer to take charge of administrative and operating roles for serving plan sponsors. This, in turn, not only leads to a decline in costs for the plan sponsors but also relieves them of administrative burdens to certain extent. To this effect, the solution acts as the named fiduciary and plan administrator under ERISA.The solution simultaneously also seeks to benefit plan participants by reducing plan fees.The abovementioned announcement bodes well as the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled plan sponsors to devise more effective retirement programs with focus on improved outcomes for plan participants.In fact, the urgent need for enhanced retirement solutions has been substantiated by two recent Mercer surveys. Per the surveys, approximately 50% of respondents stated the issue of spending lesser time on retirement plans than they want, which has aggravated further owing to the pandemic.The current scenario also highlights the fact that regulatory reforms are likely to increase access to bundled plan solutions for plan sponsors. This gives an apt opportunity for Mercer to leverage their global scale and many years of proven expertise to roll out enhanced bundled plan solutions, which can be customised per the needs of the participants. It’s worth mentioning that Mercer’s management also remains optimistic about developing more such solutions in the next year.Shares of Marsh & McLennan, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), have gained 15.1% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 4.5%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The company’s peers, namely, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. AJG, Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO and Aon plc AON have rallied 16.1%, 25.8% and 2.7%, respectively, in a year’s time.Marsh & McLennan banking on its four businesses – Mercer, Marsh, Guy Carpenter and Oliver Wyman have been benefiting from higher revenues with the first half of 2020 being no exception. The top line has been driven by the company’s diverse product offerings, strong global foothold and higher client retention rates. We believe that several buyouts, capital expenditures incurred for pursuing growth initiatives, launch of new product and services and upgradation of digital capabilities are likely to help the company in sustaining momentum in the long run.Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.See the pot trades we're targeting>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Marsh McLennan Companies, Inc. (MMC): Free Stock Analysis Report Aon plc (AON): Free Stock Analysis Report Arthur J. Gallagher Co. (AJG): Free Stock Analysis Report Brown Brown, Inc. (BRO): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research