Why do 401k options suck so badly?

[DespotInExile]

Between my wife and I, we have a reasonably large amount of money in three different 401ks.

We've left money in 1 of my old 401ks, rather than rolling it out, because it has excellent investment options that I would not have access to through an ordinary brokerage account.

However for our current 401ks, the investment alternatives really bite. High fee, incomplete sector coverage, all active management, etc. Consequently, it is really hard to get my asset allocations right.

My wife and I have been in a number of retirement funds since I started working many years ago, and with the exception of the 401k plan I initially discussed, they all blow and I couldnt roll the money out fast enough when I changed jobs.

So answer me this: Why do 401k plans suck so much?