People who didn’t sponsor a plan or weren’t involved in the retirement plan industry before 2012, think some 401(k) industry veterans like myself, are part of some multiverse when we talk about life before fee disclosure. The...more
As 2023 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered health and welfare plan...more
Since 2012 with fee disclosure regulations, we have seen 401(k) fee compression and the latest 401(k) Averages Book shows that it’s continuing....more
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed what to do if you inadvertently failed to enroll someone in your 401(k) plan. In this month’s Compliance Check, we focus on the variety of typical notices that are...more
For the past 9 1/2 years, fee disclosure has certainly helped you as a plan sponsor to finally understand the true cost of plan administration. That’s important because you have a fiduciary duty to only pay reasonable plan...more
The beauty of fee disclosure regulations and technological breakthroughs is that 401(k) fees have been sliding. Even 9 years after the promulgations of the fee disclosure regulations, it’s still sliding....more
When I was younger, I was a pessimist. Everything to me, like a bad grade in Civil Procedure I was the end of the world and I realized eventually, that it wasn’t. I learned optimism is easier to manage than pessimism....more
As an ERISA attorney, my retainer agreements are pretty straight and clear. Governed by the laws that govern attorney behavior, I have no choice. Yet, Third Party Administrators (TPAs) don’t have guidelines to live by. ...more
I'm a big fan of business history when it comes to brilliant business moves, as well as some pretty awful ones. In terms of bad business decisions, I always find it amusing when I can spot one when it's made and I could see...more
When fee disclosure regulations came into being by the Department of Labor (DOL) in 2012, so many detractors of it said it would cause plan sponsors to terminate their plans and there would be a race to zero in fees. The...more
While every large 401(k) plan is a target for a class-action lawsuit over costs, I believe the years of litigation and fee disclosure regulations will exhaust the number of class-action lawsuits, as well as courts taking a...more
When I was at law school at American University Washington College of Law, I was the Executive Editor of The American Jurist, which was the student newsmagazine for my final year of law school. I wasn’t a particularly fond...more
When fee disclosure regulations were promulgated in 2012, you could see the changes a mile away. While some chicken littles thought the sky was falling, I knew it would lead to a more competitive marketplace and there would...more
According to a report from Reuters, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is exploring a sale of its retirement services division, which has about $175 billion of assets under management and administration....more
Years ago, a lot of financial advisors weren’t aware of their role as a retirement plan advisor when it came to handling their plan sponsor clients. Most advisors were mailing it in, pocketing the quarterly fee without...more
When fee disclosure regulations were implemented, there were a few industry chicken littles that suggested that the disclosures would be a race to zero and only the cheapest providers would win out. History has proven that...more
A long time in a galaxy, far far away (the time before fee disclosure regulations), I talked to the top salesman of a certain third-party administration (TPA) firm that charged an asset-based fee. The TPA wasn’t a producing...more
As 2019 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 covered health and welfare...more
Yet again, the end of the year is rapidly approaching! To avoid costly penalties that can arise from inadvertent errors in the year-end crush, plan sponsors should begin talking with their service providers now about what...more
When I was 13 and I had my Bar Mitzvah, I plunked down about $2,000 in 1985 money for a state of the art Apple IIe with a monochrome monitor. One of the first pieces of software I bought was that top desktop publishing...more
Every week on 401(k) Help Center, I see an article about some retirement plan provider being bought out by another. The consolidation in the retirement plan business has been an ongoing theme ever since fee disclosure...more
If you go and read through the marketplace news on 401khelpcenter.com, you see something recurring that was unfathomable 10-15 years ago,. You have an insurance company offering an open architecture platform....more
Thinking Outside The Box For Plan Providers. It's a way to get ahead. The retirement plan business is one of the most competitive businesses out there because there is so many competing plan providers out there...more
Everyone knows I love movies and the memorable lines that come from them. I’ma a big fan of The Dark Knight and the line uttered by Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent: You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself...more
The landscape for the retirement plan business has radically changed since when I first started in 1998. Normal courses of business such as revenue sharing and non-transparency of fees were the order of the day. No one cared...more