Four Secrets of Successful Plan Advisors
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In This Issue
Items of Special Interest to Service Providers Four Secrets of Successful Plan Advisors Summary: Fidelity announced the results of its sixth annual Plan Sponsor Attitudes survey, which revealed four secrets of successful plan advisors. These insights are critical given that, of the plan sponsors surveyed, an overwhelming majority (84 percent) use an advisor. Of those who do, 17 percent are actively looking to switch advisors. Source: 401khelpcenter.com Sales Lead Magnets: A Social Selling Tip Summary: Today's business world -- and particularly selling environment -- no longer takes place in a linear, flat fashion. The game has changed and the business of selling now requires you to work multi-dimensionally and embrace the digital space by implementing social selling. Here is why and how. Source: 401khelpcenter.com Website Privacy Policies and the FTC's Authority Over Retirement Plans Summary: Remembering that ERISA does not preempt the application of other federal law, which we continue to learn to integrate into our practices, we now may find ourselves needing to deal with the Federal Trade Commissions' standards as well. Source: Businessofbenefits.com Recordkeeper Partners Critical to Success Summary: Two senior retirement industry executives -- one from an advisory firm and one from a recordkeeper -- discuss how the two types of service providers can work together for better plan sponsor outcomes. Source: Planadviser.com
Fiduciary and Plan Governance Material Are Plain-Vanilla 401k Investment Options a Fiduciary Imperative? Summary: Investment fads come and go, but they tend to stay on the 401k menu of investment options. Whose responsibility is it to recognize when investment fads expire? It may be reasonable to place that responsibility on the fiduciary duty of the plan sponsor who then can offer employees with the proper menu of the core building blocks. Source: Fiduciarynews.com Risk of Excessive Fee Litigation Can Be Mitigated Summary: Excessive fees continue to be a hot topic for retirement plan committees to address. Outside of the committee's documentation, the statute of limitation provides another method built into ERISA that is often forgotten, but which is very effective in mitigating litigation risk for a claim of excessive fees. Source: Asppa.org Employer Liability Relating to Fees in Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plans Summary: Employers who sponsor retirement and savings plans for their employees should ensure that the fees paid by their employees within the plans are reasonable and adequately disclosed. This article will describe the risks for Canadian employers, and suggest a few simple things that can be done to reduce those risks. Source: Employmentandlabour.com
Insight: Studies, Research and White Papers Sponsors Demanding Much More From Plan Advisors Summary: Fidelity's sixth annual Plan Sponsor Attitudes survey reveals that more sponsors are actively looking to fire incumbent plan advisors than ever before. Why the shift in sponsor thinking? Plan sponsor focus is moving to preparing participants for retirement, from a focus on fees and fiduciary compliance. Source: Benefitspro.com Three Workable Ways to Improve the Retirement System Summary: Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, describes three ways to improve retirement outcomes for Americans: working longer, saving more through changes to Social Security and employer plans, and considering investors' homes as part of their retirement assets. Source: Thinkadvisor.com Retirement Plan Investors Abandoning Asset-Class Preference Summary: This paper highlights investment trends over the most recent two-year period. The analysis focuses on the underlying trends asset allocation that have evolved during the first half of 2013 through the first half of 2015. Paper reveals that there are common threads across all investor groups. The analysis examines four investor groups: DB plans, DC plans, retail investors, and HNW investors. Source: Principalglobal.com
Plan Automation Automatic Savings Increase Tool Enhances 401k Plan: Case Study Summary: This article discusses how one organization's 401k plan achieved higher employee participation as well as greater savings rates two years after adding automatic contribution increases. Source: Retirementtownhall.com
DOL's Re-Proposed Fiduciary Rule Big Changes Ahead for DOL Fiduciary Rule Summary: The DOL will make changes to a proposal to raise invest.advice standards for retirement accounts as soon as it digests thousands of comments letters, the official spearheading the rule said Tuesday. One such change could involve the controversial contract brokers must sign with clients in order to have flexibility in how they charge. Source: Investmentnews.com (registration may be required) House Committee Passes Bill That Would Delay Fiduciary Rule Summary: Even if the bill makes it to the floor of the full House, American Retirement Association Director of Congressional Affairs Andrew Remo does not think much of its prospects, remarking, "President Obama's forceful support of the fiduciary rule in February has muted House Democratic support for the Wagner bill, ensuring its defeat in this Congress." Source: Ntsa-net.org
Compliance and Regulatory IRS Reminds Plan Sponsors of Plan Restatement Deadline Summary: The IRS reminds plan sponsors that document providers who sell pre-approved plans update the plan in its entirety once every six years and request a new opinion/advisory letter from the agency. After April 30, 2016, if a plan sponsor hasn't adopted a restated plan, the plan does not comply with the tax laws and may be ineligible for tax benefits. Source: Plansponsor.com Money Market Fund Rule Amendments Summary: In response to credit rating agencies' influence on the credit crisis, Section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires each federal agency to review its rules and replace provisions that require reliance on credit ratings as an assessment of creditworthiness. To meet this requirement, on September 16, 2015, the SEC adopted amendments to remove references to credit ratings from Rule 2a-7 under the '40 Act. Source: Thompsonhine.com IRS Updates Forms 8950 and 8951 for VCP Submissions Summary: The IRS has updated Forms 8950 and 8951, and their instructions, for submissions under the Voluntary Correction Program. An IRS webpage announcing the revisions states that the IRS will accept submissions using the prior version of the forms through January 1, 2016 but prefers that plan sponsors use the new forms. Source: Ebia.com
Marketplace News CBIZ Acquires Georgia Based Pension Resource Group Massena Named New Director for the Oregon Retirement Savings Plan Marc Cabral Joins Securian as Regional Sales VP Employee Fiduciary Releases Small Business 401k Fees Database MassMutual and Envestnet Introduce Managed Accounts for 401ks LPL Enhances Retirement Partners Tool Suite Ascensus Sold to Private Equity Firms
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