Blog
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Contract Considerations for Service Providers
- October 28, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
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A key aspect of plan governance is understanding the contract provisions of each party providing services to the plan. Plan sponsors can expose themselves to potentially substantial monetary risk if they do not review and understand service provider agreements thoroughly.
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Automatic Enrollment: the Power of Default
- October 22, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
As we near the end of 2019, the time is right for plan sponsors to review the feasibility, advantages, and disadvantages of adding automatic enrollment features. Many participants want to save for retirement, but they do not want to go through the process of making the necessary decisions to enroll in their employer sponsored plan. Automatic enrollment could be the answer.
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Fiduciary Loan Regulation
- September 26, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Plan leakage can be the result of participants terminating with outstanding loan balances. This leads to an important question for plan fiduciaries. If a participant is going to be terminated involuntarily due to a reduction in workforce or poor job performance, and the participant applies for a loan, should the loan be granted? Based on the content of the article we’ve attached, the fiduciaries of the plan could create a fiduciary breach by granting the loan to the participant.
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Simplify Menus to Encourage Participant Engagement
- September 18, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Complex fund menus lead to participant confusion, disengagement and poor investment decisions, so the traditional DC investment menu spread across asset classes and styles is evolving toward a smaller set of choices. Some examples are simplifying the plan menu with fewer, broader menu choices, and re-labelling those choices to correspond with the way participants understand their retirement objectives.
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DOL Investigations of Retirement Plans: 10 Key Areas of Focus
- September 2, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Plan governance is a key element in defining a retirement plan standard of excellence. Our resource outlines 10 key areas the DOL is focused on regarding the governance of a qualified plan. As indicated in the article, only a couple of the key areas of concern deal with the investments in the plan.
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Plan Sponsors and the New SEC Rule on Best Interest
- August 14, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
The new Regulation Best Interest (BI) from the Securities and Exchange Commission requires that advisors and Plan Sponsors be aware of the circumstances when the interactions with the Plan fall within the scope of Regulation BI and require both compliance with Regulation BI and, in connection with the formation of the retail investor relationship, delivery of Form CRS.
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Inspiring Participants Using Automation
- July 29, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
A key element of “Defining a Retirement Plan Standard of Excellence” is creating a retirement plan which will inspire participants to save for retirement. One method to accomplish this is to automate the plan as much as possible so participants do not have to make uncomfortable decisions.
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Defining a Retirement Plan Standard of Excellence: Key Elements
- July 18, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
The white paper we’re discussing today touches on key elements of Defining a Retirement Plan Standard of Excellence. We’re looking at how providers monetize recordkeeping while maintaining that Standard of Excellence.
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Plan Fiduciary Responsibilities and Risks
- June 27, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
Retirement Plan regulatory and document requirements can seem easy to follow, but our resource introduces very interesting fiduciary responsibilities and potential risks to plan Fiduciaries which may not often be considered.
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Plan Governance and Document Retention
- June 13, 2019
- Posted by: Jeff Atwell
- Category: Financial Plan, Resources
There are different retention requirements between the ERISA Regulations and the Internal Revenue Code. Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries need to be very familiar with record retention requirements in order to produce the documentation in the event of an IRS audit or DOL investigation.