Advisor Designations and What They Mean
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General Items Advisor Designations and What They Mean When looking for a financial advisor, you've probably noticed the "alphabet soup" of letter combinations that can follow an advisor's name. There are over 100 different financial advisor certifications, so it can be confusing to determine what these letters mean, and which advisor might be best for you based on these qualifications. Here is a breakdown of some of the most common financial designations and what they mean for you. Source: Wealthspire.com Fiduciary and Plan Governance The Problems and Perils in Changing Your 401k TPA When you change third-party administrators, it's like moving and it can be traumatic. This article is all about the TPA change which involves a conversion process that can spawn a whole host of problems for a plan sponsor and fiduciaries. Source: Jdsupra.com DOL's Non-Enforcement Policy for 401k ESG Investments On March 10, 2021, the DOL announced in an official statement that it will not enforce its recently issued regulations on the investment of 401k plan investments based on nonpecuniary factors, such as environmental, social, and governance factors. The announcement represents an unusual, though not unexpected, change of course concerning the DOL's prior stated position on this issue. Generally stated, the DOL's March 10, 2021 announcement specifies that pending the publication of further guidance the DOL will not pursue enforcement actions against any plan fiduciary based on a failure to comply with the final regulations. Source: Compliancedashboard.net »» Click here for more Fiduciary and Plan Governance Material Insight: Studies, Research, and White Papers How Retirement Readiness Fared in 2020; Ideas for Improving Despite one of the most challenging periods in recent memory, a new study finds that DC plans continued to perform their critical role in preparing workers for retirement. Throughout 2020, the majority of the more than 1.1 million participants in over 1,000 John Hancock open architecture DC plans lost relatively little ground in their efforts to save for a secure retirement, the firm notes in the "State of the Participant 2021." Source: Asppa.org How Participants Weathered the Challenges of 2020 This John Hancock report looks at saving and investing behavior -- and progress toward retirement readiness -- over the course of an unprecedented year. Despite obstacles associated with the pandemic, participants held the line with their retirement savings. Source: Johnhancock.com 82% Say Pandemic Has Negatively Impacted Retirement Plans Roughly eight-in-10 Americans (82%) say the events of the past year have negatively impacted their retirement plans, and 55% of Americans said their retirement goals have been delayed by at least two years and one-third estimating it will take 2-3 years to get back on track, due to such factors as job loss or taking retirement withdrawals. Source: 401kspecialistmag.com Retirement Planning: What Women Do Right Women, it seems, have the temperament and resolve to potentially manage their money more effectively than men, character traits that could help counter some of the significant financial headwinds against them as they seek to build a retirement nest egg. Indeed, amid the reality of lower earnings potential and longer life spans, studies reveal women may plan, earmark money for savings, and avoid costly knee-jerk reactions to stock market turbulence better than their male counterparts. Source: Massmutual.com Longstanding Savings Gaps by Race, Ethnicity Persist A new EBRI analysis of data taken from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances underscores the persistently and perniciously unequal distribution of retirement savings in the United States. Source: Plansponsor.com »» Click here for More Studies, Research, and White Papers 403b Plans Collective Investment Funds and 403b Plans Collective investment funds are regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Are they eligible investment vehicles for 403b plans? Source: Ntsa-net.org A Technical Analysis of How "Small Amount" Cash-Outs Under 403b Plans Work The minute differences between 403b plans and 401k plans are often inconvenient, at best, and sometimes they produce serious conundrums in plan administration which can be difficult to resolve. Prominent among these is the issue of "small amount" cash-outs from 403b plans. Source: Businessofbenefits.com COVID-19 Creating Huge Challenges for Higher-Ed Retirement Plans As a result of the pandemic, 41% of higher education institutions have already reduced or stopped their employer matching contribution, and 87% of them believe COVID-19 will have a significant impact on their employees' retirement readiness. Those are among the key findings of an inaugural survey of retirement plans in public and private higher education conducted by Greenwald Research on behalf of Voya Financial. Source: 401kspecialistmag.com »» Click here for More 403b Material Court and Legal Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Fidelity "Infrastructure Fee" Lawsuit The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit against Fidelity over "infrastructure fees" charged to third-party mutual funds on the company's FundsNetwork investment platform. Fidelity describes the fee as compensation for the costs of maintaining the platform. But the plaintiffs alleged the fee is a "pay-to-play" charge for access to Fidelity's retirement plan investors that violates Fidelity's ERISA fiduciary duties. The threshold question in the case concerned whether Fidelity was a functional fiduciary when negotiating the fee. If not, no fiduciary breach could have occurred. Source: Mercer.com Settlement Struck in BlackRock 401k Suit The settlement -- which will wind up covering some 17,000 participants in BlackRock's Retirement Savings Plan, 70% current participants and 30% former who no longer have an active account, according to the agreement -- comes in a case filed on April 5, 2017, by Charles Baird alleging, as do most of these excessive fee suits, that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by, among other things (and with the involvement of investment consultant Mercer Investment Counseling) charging excessive hidden fees, picking investments that charged up to 871% more than required and costing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. Source: Napa-net.org »» Click here for more Court and Other Legal Issues Compliance and Regulatory Review of DOL Missing Participant Guidance Up until earlier this year, it wasn't just the participants who were missing, the guidance was missing too. But on January 12, 2021, the DOL finally issued its long-awaited missing participant guidance. This article takes a quick tour of what was included. Source: Plansponsor.com Coronavirus-Related Distributions: Repayments and Reporting Among the numerous changes that have taken place last year, the CARES Act added a level of complexity to an already complicated retirement universe. The addition of Coronavirus-related distributions provides participants with the ability to repay qualified distributions anytime over the next three years, following the implementation of the CARES Act. To understand the repayment and reporting of CRDs, it is vital to first understand some of the details regarding these distributions. Source: Ntsa-net.org Eight Mistakes to Avoid When Administering a 401k Plan Mistakes are common for plan sponsors with no financial experience who are administrating a 401k. Sponsors are the plan fiduciaries with plan documentation or protocols for following ERISA regulations. In some cases, penalties for errors are severe and irreversible, even if those errors were made in good faith. Here are some of the most common mistakes when operating 401k plans. Source: 401kspecialistmag.com »» Click here for more Compliance and Regulatory Material Marketplace News Sallus Retirement to Launch Pooled Retirement Plan as Independent Fiduciary NAPA Announces the Top DC Advisor Multi-Office Firms TD Ameritrade's Retirement Plan Unit Being Merged Into Schwab Voya Launches Advisor Managed Accounts Program Marty Walsh Confirmed by Senate as Labor Secretary
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