Recent litigation and the (now delayed) Fiduciary Rule have led plan sponsors to take a close look at plan fees as part of their fiduciary duty, and many fiduciaries believe that selecting providers with the lowest fees will fulfill their fiduciary obligations. But that’s not always the case. Fiduciary duty is tied to ensuring that [...]

DOL Fiduciary Rule Update Firms have spent more than a year and millions of dollars preparing for the DOL Fiduciary rule, set to commence on April 10. This rule requires retirement plan service providers, such as brokers, advisors and recordkeepers to act in the best interests of clients when working with retirement accounts. However, on [...]

Pre-approved 403(b) plan document The IRS announced March 31, 2020 as the last day to retroactively correct defects in 403(b) plan documents and the last day to adopt a pre-approved plan document.   We will be offering a pre-approved 403(b) plan document to our clients once we receive final approval and advisory letters from the [...]

What does a plan sponsor do when a participant goes missing? If a participant has a balance in the plan—even if he/she is terminated, the plan sponsor has a fiduciary obligation to ensure that participant is receiving required plan information, such as a statement, the Summary Annual Report, fee disclosures and updated Summary Plan Descriptions. [...]

Monday, January 16th our office is open but the markets are closed. No trades will be processed. Enjoy the holiday weekend!  

Maintenance reminder! We will be performing scheduled maintenance on our web servers beginning at 5:30 pm (PST) on December 16, 2016. During this time, your account access may be unavailable. We anticipate this process will be completed by Monday, December 19. We thank you for your patience!  

Tis' the season! Wednesday, November 23rd- Market open. All trades will be processed as normal. Our office will be closing at 2pm. Thursday, November 24th- Office closed. Market Closed. No trades will be processed. Friday, November 25th- Market open. All trades will be processed as normal. Office closed.    Thursday, December 8th - Markets open. All trades processed [...]

Are you listening A recent LIMRA report brings an interesting perspective to enrolling new employees in your retirement plan. The study shows that “employers are not in touch with how their employees want to enroll.”   What Employers Believe Employees Prefer vs. What Employees Actually Prefer Surveyed employees who preferred online enrollment felt that companies [...]

Participants are ready for auto-initiatives It’s no secret that a retirement plan is one of the most effective ways to help employees save for retirement, and it looks like participants share that view. New research shows that more than 8 out of 10 participants view a plan as one of their most important benefits. In [...]

FAQs for plan sponsors and plan participants Each year, the Department of Labor requires that participants receive a 404(a)(5) notice, outlining the fees charged to participants as well as their rights and responsibilities. When this requirement was implemented (in 2012), we distributed a guide to answer frequently asked questions. Because questions still arise from time to [...]