The $186 billion Federal Thrift Savings Plan is planning a survey of its 3.6 million participants to see what they think of the plan's services and whether they want new investment options. Gregory Long, director of product development who was hired for the new position in March, said he wants to get good data on what participants see as important before recommending any changes.

A survey firm will be hired to help conduct the study and design the questions. No decisions have been made as to how the survey will look but the government plans to finish before the end of the year. Long said among the subjects covered will be how participants feel about loan services and how easy it is to reach a representative. There has been no cost estimate for the survey yet, but Long said it needs to reach a lot of people in order to have a statistically significant result. A request for proposals will be issued for the survey firm.

Once that data is in, the plan can look at what is available in the market and Long can make recommendations. Those recommendations are acted on (or not) by the plan's investment committee and chief investment officer. There are five basic funds and five asset-allocation funds in the plan.