Thereâs a fear that those rushing to promote their own PEPs are merely trying to return to the bundle service provider environment the industry evolved away from more than a decade ago. This makes due diligence all the more important.
Tag "plan sponsor"
More sophisticated plan participants who can afford to hire their own adviser. They donât ask more from the plan. They ask for less, in hopes of gaining more control over their own destiny. For a variety of reasons, this isnât as easy as some participants would like it to be.
Just as these changes come bearing down, so, too, does a need for greater hand holding. Pressures within the provider industry, however, appear to be reducing the number of available hands.
This doesnât mean you shoot haphazardly for the stars when you can have the moon. After all, youâve got to know your limitations. Seeking unreachable goals will only make your retirement seem hollow and pointless.
Thereâs a perverse incentive working here, however. The more aggressive a plan sponsor gets in terms of promoting âfinancial wellness,â the more likely that plan sponsor will accidentally cross some compliance line.
Thereâs not a sin in listening to radio shows sponsored by those selling gold and silver. Itâs quite another thing to actually act on their ârecommendation.â
If youâre a fiduciary of the acquiring plan, you want to make sure youâre not burdened with any unknown liabilities. If youâre a fiduciary of the acquired plan, you want to make sure the merger process doesnât introduce new liabilities.
What would it take to realize the fiduciary liability of overtly using ârisk toleranceâ metrics? And what can 401k plan sponsors do about it?
Beyond the usual gestation period, here are some specific âtrigger pointsâ which plan sponsors have reacted to that have accelerated their decision to move into a PEP?
How do we design and administer retirement plans?
