It’s been a minute since we focussed on PE and retirement plans. To dive into this I have Dan Cahill of the private equity firm Partners Group, one of two firms that took the initiative to seek guidance from the DOL on the utilization of PE in 401(k) plans. We dive right into, what the significance of the information letter in 2020 was, what has transpired since then, the investment case for and against PE and how plaintiff’s attorneys are viewing things.   A lot of great stuff, I learned a lot, hope you do as well. Guest BIo Daniel Cahill is part of the Client Solutions Americas business unit, based in New York. He is responsible for fundraising and business development for Partners Group's strategic US DC initiative. He has 19 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Neuberger Berman, where he was most recently in charge of strategic planning and business development for both retirement and subadvisory platforms. Before Neuberger, he worked at Putnam Investments where he served as relationship manager interfacing with intermediary platforms, mainly in the private bank and wirehouse space. He holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Finance from the Carroll School at Boston College as well as a bachelor's degree in finance from Boston College, Massachusetts, USA. He is also a CAIA charterholder.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

It’s been a minute since we focussed on PE and retirement plans. To dive into this I have Dan Cahill of the private equity firm Partners Group, one of two firms that took the initiative to seek guidance from the DOL on the utilization of PE in 401(k) plans. We dive right into, what the significance of the information letter in 2020 was, what has transpired since then, the investment case for and against PE and how plaintiff’s attorneys are viewing things. A lot of great stuff, I learned a lot, hope you do as well. Guest BIo Daniel Cahill is part of the Client Solutions Americas business unit, based in New York. He is responsible for fundraising and business development for Partners Group's strategic US DC initiative. He has 19 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at Neuberger Berman, where he was most recently in charge of strategic planning and business development for both retirement and subadvisory platforms. Before Neuberger, he worked at Putnam Investments where he served as relationship manager interfacing with intermediary platforms, mainly in the private bank and wirehouse space. He holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Finance from the Carroll School at Boston College as well as a bachelor's degree in finance from Boston College, Massachusetts, USA. He is also a CAIA charterholder. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Are We Approaching The Tipping Point For Private Equity & 401(k) Plans?

It seems like the major themes that are dominating the investment markets are also of great interest to individuals trying to make decisions personally or in their businesses. That isn’t always the case. I couldn’t think of a better person to wade through this with me than a perennial podcast favorite Rob Arnott, Founder and Chairman of Research Affiliates. As usual, Rob packages his enthusiasm, excellent communication, and insights in a way that should help you think through current trends and how they could impact you, your business and even a few items on your 401(k). Hope you enjoy!   Guest BIo Rob Arnott is founder and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates. Rob plays an active role in the firm’s research, portfolio management, product innovation, business strategy, and client-facing activities. He is a member of the Investment Committee and the Executive Committee of the board. With Chris Brightman, he is co-portfolio manager on the PIMCO All Asset and All Asset All Authority funds and the PIMCO RAE™ funds. Over his career, Rob has endeavored to bridge the worlds of academic theorists and financial markets, challenging conventional wisdom and searching for solutions that add value for investors. He has pioneered several unconventional portfolio strategies that are now widely applied, including tactical asset allocation, global tactical asset allocation, tax-advantaged equity management, and the Fundamental Index™ approach to investing. His success in doing so has resulted in a reputation as one of the world’s most provocative practitioners and respected financial analysts. In 2002, Rob founded Research Affiliates as a research-intensive asset management firm intent on delivering innovative and impactful products and insights. Prior to establishing Research Affiliates, Rob was chair of First Quadrant, LP, which he built up from the former internal money manager for Crum &amp; Forster into a highly regarded quantitative asset management firm.  He also was global equity strategist at Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup), the founding president and CEO of TSA Capital Management (now part of Analytic Investors, LLC), and a vice president at The Boston Company. Rob has published more than 130 articles in such publications as the Journal of Portfolio Management, Harvard Business Review, and Financial Analysts Journal, for whom he served as editor in chief from 2002 through 2006. Rob has received eight Graham and Dodd Scrolls, which are awarded annually by CFA Institute to the top Financial Analysts Journal articles of the year. He also has received four Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy awards from the Journal of Portfolio Management. He is co-author of The Fundamental Index: A Better Way to Invest (Wiley 2008). Rob received a BS summa cum laude in economics, applied mathematics, and computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

It seems like the major themes that are dominating the investment markets are also of great interest to individuals trying to make decisions personally or in their businesses. That isn’t always the case. I couldn’t think of a better person to wade through this with me than a perennial podcast favorite Rob Arnott, Founder and Chairman of Research Affiliates. As usual, Rob packages his enthusiasm, excellent communication, and insights in a way that should help you think through current trends and how they could impact you, your business and even a few items on your 401(k). Hope you enjoy! Guest BIo Rob Arnott is founder and chairman of the board of Research Affiliates. Rob plays an active role in the firm’s research, portfolio management, product innovation, business strategy, and client-facing activities. He is a member of the Investment Committee and the Executive Committee of the board. With Chris Brightman, he is co-portfolio manager on the PIMCO All Asset and All Asset All Authority funds and the PIMCO RAE™ funds. Over his career, Rob has endeavored to bridge the worlds of academic theorists and financial markets, challenging conventional wisdom and searching for solutions that add value for investors. He has pioneered several unconventional portfolio strategies that are now widely applied, including tactical asset allocation, global tactical asset allocation, tax-advantaged equity management, and the Fundamental Index™ approach to investing. His success in doing so has resulted in a reputation as one of the world’s most provocative practitioners and respected financial analysts. In 2002, Rob founded Research Affiliates as a research-intensive asset management firm intent on delivering innovative and impactful products and insights. Prior to establishing Research Affiliates, Rob was chair of First Quadrant, LP, which he built up from the former internal money manager for Crum &amp; Forster into a highly regarded quantitative asset management firm.  He also was global equity strategist at Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup), the founding president and CEO of TSA Capital Management (now part of Analytic Investors, LLC), and a vice president at The Boston Company. Rob has published more than 130 articles in such publications as the Journal of Portfolio Management, Harvard Business Review, and Financial Analysts Journal, for whom he served as editor in chief from 2002 through 2006. Rob has received eight Graham and Dodd Scrolls, which are awarded annually by CFA Institute to the top Financial Analysts Journal articles of the year. He also has received four Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy awards from the Journal of Portfolio Management. He is co-author of The Fundamental Index: A Better Way to Invest (Wiley 2008). Rob received a BS summa cum laude in economics, applied mathematics, and computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Should the Financial Markets Guide Your Business (or 401(k)) Decisions?

Bonds, or fixed income investments did not have a great year in 2022 to say the least. The big question is now what? To delve into that, I am excited to have Michael J. Collins, CFA, and Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, and other Multi-Sector Fixed Income strategies at PGIM. We start with commentaries on performance, then move to interest rates, different areas of the bond market and most importantly, what, if anything plan sponsors should be doing in their 401(k) or workplace retirement plans. Also, Michael mentions the graph below, you'll have to listen to get the proper perspective. That’s it, I hope you enjoy!  Guest BIo Michael J. Collins, CFA, is a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, and other Multi-Sector Fixed Income strategies. Previously, Mr. Collins was a High Yield Portfolio Manager and Fixed Income Investment Strategist. Earlier he was a credit research analyst, covering investment grade and high yield corporate credits. Additionally, he developed proprietary quantitative international interest rate and currency valuation models for our global bond unit. Mr. Collins began his career at the Firm in 1986 as a software applications designer. He received a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Binghamton University and an MBA in Finance from New York University. Mr. Collins holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI). He currently serves as the Treasurer on the Board of CEA, a non-profit that provides education and employment for people with disabilities.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Bonds, or fixed income investments did not have a great year in 2022 to say the least. The big question is now what? To delve into that, I am excited to have Michael J. Collins, CFA, and Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, and other Multi-Sector Fixed Income strategies at PGIM. We start with commentaries on performance, then move to interest rates, different areas of the bond market and most importantly, what, if anything plan sponsors should be doing in their 401(k) or workplace retirement plans. Also, Michael mentions the graph below, you'll have to listen to get the proper perspective. That’s it, I hope you enjoy! Guest BIo Michael J. Collins, CFA, is a Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, and other Multi-Sector Fixed Income strategies. Previously, Mr. Collins was a High Yield Portfolio Manager and Fixed Income Investment Strategist. Earlier he was a credit research analyst, covering investment grade and high yield corporate credits. Additionally, he developed proprietary quantitative international interest rate and currency valuation models for our global bond unit. Mr. Collins began his career at the Firm in 1986 as a software applications designer. He received a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science from Binghamton University and an MBA in Finance from New York University. Mr. Collins holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute (FLMI). He currently serves as the Treasurer on the Board of CEA, a non-profit that provides education and employment for people with disabilities. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Bonds Behaving Badly, What Happened & What's Next?

If you are at all involved with workplace retirement plans, you would have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about SECURE 2.0. It is a hot topic, while also ambitious and even confusing. With all those factors, I couldn’t think of a better person to join me to wade through all this than Alison Cohen, Partner at the Ferenczy Benefits Law Center. We do cover a lot ground today so get ready. Also, while there has been a lot announced, keep in mind many new provisions don’t go into affect for one or more years and we still will need guidance from the IRS or others to answer many basic and logical questions.   Guest Bio Alison J. Cohen, J.D., APA, APR is a Partner with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She advises clients on many issues related to qualified retirement plans, including design, mergers and acquisitions, audits, and operational issues. Alison commonly works with clients that have operational issues to guide them through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Department of Labor (DOL) corrective programs, prepare corrective filings, and prepare and support clients through an audit conducted by the IRS and/or DOL. Alison is a member of the Georgia and California State Bars. Prior to joining Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, Alison worked at a large bundled service provider for nearly 16 years as an Associate Vice President, Compliance Manager and Regulatory Liaison. As part of her responsibilities there, Alison served as a national speaker on audit and correction issues. She served on the Employee Plans Subcommittee of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Governmental Entities (ACT). Alison has been actively involved with the National Institute of Pension Administration (NIPA) serving as a speaker, author, and developer/teacher. In 2019, Alison received NIPA’s Excellence in Education Award, which recognizes outstanding educators within the national membership who have made significant contributions and improvements to NIPA’s educational programs. Alison holds designations as an Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) and an Accredited Pension Representative (APR) from NIPA.  Alison is the former first President and an active member of the Pension Education Council of Atlanta (PECA). Alison is a co-author of The Plan Correction eSource and in 2019 she also assumed co-authorship of ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide. Alison speaks frequently on qualified retirement plan topics and issues, bringing a sense of humor and practical solutions to clients, colleagues, and industry professionals.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

If you are at all involved with workplace retirement plans, you would have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about SECURE 2.0. It is a hot topic, while also ambitious and even confusing. With all those factors, I couldn’t think of a better person to join me to wade through all this than Alison Cohen, Partner at the Ferenczy Benefits Law Center. We do cover a lot ground today so get ready. Also, while there has been a lot announced, keep in mind many new provisions don’t go into affect for one or more years and we still will need guidance from the IRS or others to answer many basic and logical questions. Guest Bio Alison J. Cohen, J.D., APA, APR is a Partner with Ferenczy Benefits Law Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She advises clients on many issues related to qualified retirement plans, including design, mergers and acquisitions, audits, and operational issues. Alison commonly works with clients that have operational issues to guide them through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Department of Labor (DOL) corrective programs, prepare corrective filings, and prepare and support clients through an audit conducted by the IRS and/or DOL. Alison is a member of the Georgia and California State Bars. Prior to joining Ferenczy Benefits Law Center, Alison worked at a large bundled service provider for nearly 16 years as an Associate Vice President, Compliance Manager and Regulatory Liaison. As part of her responsibilities there, Alison served as a national speaker on audit and correction issues. She served on the Employee Plans Subcommittee of the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax-Exempt and Governmental Entities (ACT). Alison has been actively involved with the National Institute of Pension Administration (NIPA) serving as a speaker, author, and developer/teacher. In 2019, Alison received NIPA’s Excellence in Education Award, which recognizes outstanding educators within the national membership who have made significant contributions and improvements to NIPA’s educational programs. Alison holds designations as an Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) and an Accredited Pension Representative (APR) from NIPA.  Alison is the former first President and an active member of the Pension Education Council of Atlanta (PECA). Alison is a co-author of The Plan Correction eSource and in 2019 she also assumed co-authorship of ERISA: A Comprehensive Guide. Alison speaks frequently on qualified retirement plan topics and issues, bringing a sense of humor and practical solutions to clients, colleagues, and industry professionals. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Are You in The Know About SECURE 2.0?

Here we go with a 401(k) Friday’s Podcast first, three guests and a great topic. Today we dive into the recent announcement that three major recordkeepers are launching the Portability Services Network. Joining me to discuss what this means is Dave Gray from Fidelity, Greg Long from Alight and Steve Holman from Vanguard. We tackle what is an automatic rollover, the problems it solves for employees and employers, how it works and whether the DOL and others think this is a good idea. This could have been a disaster having three guests, each with a lot to say, but it turned out well. I hope you enjoy!   Guest Bios Dave Gray is a member of the Workplace Investing Executive Management Team and serves as the Head of Workplace Retirement Platforms, Workplace Investing for Fidelity. Dave leads Fidelity’s defined contribution and multi-product platform and product development teams across sites in the US, India, and Ireland. The teams are responsible for developing and managing market-leading solutions and customer experiences and the continuous modernization of the Workplace Retirement platforms, leveraging cloud technologies. Dave also has principal responsibility for next generation defined contribution plan innovation, notably digital assets and the blockchain. In addition, Dave was appointed to the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council.  Prior to joining Fidelity, he worked at Charles Schwab where he served as a member of Schwab’s Retirement Plan Services executive leadership team responsible for client experience, product management, and business strategy. Previously, Dave served as a Vice President at Standard Insurance Retirement Services where he built and led the client relationship management organization, and earlier as a member of Invesmart’s executive team responsible for general management of the retirement plan business.  Dave earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tennessee Temple University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24, and 66 licenses.    401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Here we go with a 401(k) Friday’s Podcast first, three guests and a great topic. Today we dive into the recent announcement that three major recordkeepers are launching the Portability Services Network. Joining me to discuss what this means is Dave Gray from Fidelity, Greg Long from Alight and Steve Holman from Vanguard. We tackle what is an automatic rollover, the problems it solves for employees and employers, how it works and whether the DOL and others think this is a good idea. This could have been a disaster having three guests, each with a lot to say, but it turned out well. I hope you enjoy! Guest Bios Dave Gray is a member of the Workplace Investing Executive Management Team and serves as the Head of Workplace Retirement Platforms, Workplace Investing for Fidelity. Dave leads Fidelity’s defined contribution and multi-product platform and product development teams across sites in the US, India, and Ireland. The teams are responsible for developing and managing market-leading solutions and customer experiences and the continuous modernization of the Workplace Retirement platforms, leveraging cloud technologies. Dave also has principal responsibility for next generation defined contribution plan innovation, notably digital assets and the blockchain. In addition, Dave was appointed to the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council.  Prior to joining Fidelity, he worked at Charles Schwab where he served as a member of Schwab’s Retirement Plan Services executive leadership team responsible for client experience, product management, and business strategy. Previously, Dave served as a Vice President at Standard Insurance Retirement Services where he built and led the client relationship management organization, and earlier as a member of Invesmart’s executive team responsible for general management of the retirement plan business.  Dave earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tennessee Temple University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24, and 66 licenses.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Will Your 401(k) Account Soon Follow You Around?: Automatic Rollovers Coming To A Plan Near You

It’s been a little while since we tackled financial wellness, there has been a lot going on in that area so I was glad to be able to connect with Brent Hines, the co-founder and Chief Development Officer of the educational non-profit, Foundation for Financial Wellness. The Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s lives by empowering them with the knowledge and the motivation to take control of their financial lives. During our conversation, we compare definitions of financial wellness, talk about how to design and deliver effective programs with employers and discuss training and certification programs for employers and the industry.   For additional information we discussed in the episode, here is the link for Brent's Tedx Talk and the  Financial Wellness Professional Certification program.    Great stuff, and I hope you enjoy!   Guest Bio Brent Hines is the co-founder and Chief Development Officer of the educational non-profit, Foundation for Financial Wellness. The Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s lives by empowering them with the knowledge and the motivation to take control of their financial lives.  The Foundation’s curriculum is rooted in the principles of Behavioral Finance which makes every class topic taught by the Foundation unique, innovative, and extremely valuable. Brent’s vision has led to the expansion of the Foundation’s curriculum, delivery, and effectiveness.  Some of today’s most popular class topics are budgeting, debt elimination, insurance, investments, retirement, taxes, and life &amp; legacy planning. Brent regularly delivers keynote addresses on behalf of The Foundation for Financial Wellness, bringing motivational presentations to corporations, workforce boards, churches, groups, and associations offering real-world financial solutions to thousands of individuals and the organizations of which they are members.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

It’s been a little while since we tackled financial wellness, there has been a lot going on in that area so I was glad to be able to connect with Brent Hines, the co-founder and Chief Development Officer of the educational non-profit, Foundation for Financial Wellness. The Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s lives by empowering them with the knowledge and the motivation to take control of their financial lives. During our conversation, we compare definitions of financial wellness, talk about how to design and deliver effective programs with employers and discuss training and certification programs for employers and the industry. For additional information we discussed in the episode, here is the link for Brent's <a href="https://youtu.be/gYjqX1o5ci0" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Tedx Talk</a> and the <a href="https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2finfo.foundationforfinancialwellness.org%2fcertified-financial-wellness-professional&amp;c=E,1,6DEwQIA89Pk-WdiiIZnwTyW4Nqu61CK7NCw4xVEmEUDGqk5eVQk9bm-X6Nzttuwympuu-242k3s5XU5bg2RJAs8f3CKMRCtGaE6sfjQ6Ch4wZso,&amp;typo=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Financial Wellness Professional Certification</a> program.  Great stuff, and I hope you enjoy! Guest Bio Brent Hines is the co-founder and Chief Development Officer of the educational non-profit, Foundation for Financial Wellness. The Foundation’s mission is to improve people’s lives by empowering them with the knowledge and the motivation to take control of their financial lives.  The Foundation’s curriculum is rooted in the principles of Behavioral Finance which makes every class topic taught by the Foundation unique, innovative, and extremely valuable. Brent’s vision has led to the expansion of the Foundation’s curriculum, delivery, and effectiveness.  Some of today’s most popular class topics are budgeting, debt elimination, insurance, investments, retirement, taxes, and life &amp; legacy planning. Brent regularly delivers keynote addresses on behalf of The Foundation for Financial Wellness, bringing motivational presentations to corporations, workforce boards, churches, groups, and associations offering real-world financial solutions to thousands of individuals and the organizations of which they are members. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Creating a Foundation for Financial Wellness

Every now and then you have a guest that like Prince, or Cher, that simply needs one name to know who they are. Today, I am happy to welcome Shlomo, more formally known as Dr. Shlomo Benartzi, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Anderson, Founder and CEO, PensionPlus. We dive into the compelling and complex topic of the good, the bad and the ugly of auto everything in retirement plans. As implied, auto features are powerful, but may or may not be the best solutions to everything. Love to hear what you agree or disagree with, please share and leave your comments on LinkedIn. I learned a lot, hope you do as well!   Guest Bio Shlomo Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. He works on creating digital nudges that leverage technology to achieve massive scale and help millions make better financial decisions. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and is currently a professor emeritus and co-founder of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative.   Benartzi’s work has demonstrated the potential for far-reaching improvement. Along with Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, he pioneered the Save More Tomorrow™ (SMarT) program, a behavioral prescription designed to nudge employees to increase their savings rates gradually over time. In their original research, Benartzi and Thaler found that SMarT increased employee savings rates from 3.5 percent to 13.6 percent. The SMarT program is now offered by more than half of the large retirement plans in the U.S. and a growing number of plans in Australia and the U.K. The program has also been incorporated into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enabling approximately 15 million Americans to boost their retirement savings.   To help bridge the gap between academic research and the real world, Benartzi has worked with many financial institutions and served on multiple advisory boards. He is currently a senior academic advisor for the Voya Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation, Acorns, Blast, Lili, Personal Capital and Wisdom Tree.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Every now and then you have a guest that like Prince, or Cher, that simply needs one name to know who they are. Today, I am happy to welcome Shlomo, more formally known as Dr. Shlomo Benartzi, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Anderson, Founder and CEO, PensionPlus. We dive into the compelling and complex topic of the good, the bad and the ugly of auto everything in retirement plans. As implied, auto features are powerful, but may or may not be the best solutions to everything. Love to hear what you agree or disagree with, please share and leave your comments on LinkedIn. I learned a lot, hope you do as well! Guest Bio Shlomo Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. He works on creating digital nudges that leverage technology to achieve massive scale and help millions make better financial decisions. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and is currently a professor emeritus and co-founder of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA Anderson School of Management. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Wharton Behavior Change for Good Initiative. Benartzi’s work has demonstrated the potential for far-reaching improvement. Along with Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, he pioneered the Save More Tomorrow™ (SMarT) program, a behavioral prescription designed to nudge employees to increase their savings rates gradually over time. In their original research, Benartzi and Thaler found that SMarT increased employee savings rates from 3.5 percent to 13.6 percent. The SMarT program is now offered by more than half of the large retirement plans in the U.S. and a growing number of plans in Australia and the U.K. The program has also been incorporated into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, enabling approximately 15 million Americans to boost their retirement savings. To help bridge the gap between academic research and the real world, Benartzi has worked with many financial institutions and served on multiple advisory boards. He is currently a senior academic advisor for the Voya Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation, Acorns, Blast, Lili, Personal Capital and Wisdom Tree. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 250 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

401(k) Auto Features: The Good, Bad & Ugly

I am happy to welcome back another guest who seemingly had predictive powers in prior episodes to briefly reflect on that prediction and give his crystal ball another look. Joining me is Jason Roberts, CEO of Pension Resource Institute and Retirement Law Group and managing partner at Group Plan Systems. Jason also shares input on evaluating some services plan sponsors use that are tougher to compare than say a large cap growth fund. Lot’s of food for thought today, I hope you get as much out of the conversation as I did.    Coming up on the podcast, we are going to delve into the conversation of whether auto everything works in retirement plans, check in on the markets and economy and much more. If you have ideas for a future guest or topic, please send me a message on LInkedIn and we will take it from there.    Guest BIo Jason C. Roberts is an attorney who focuses on the intersection of tax, ERISA and securities laws and regulations.  He is the founder and CEO of Pension Resource Institute, LLC (PRI) – a consulting firm that helps banks, broker-dealers and investment advisers with compliance, training and practice management focused on serving retirement investors.  Jason is also the founder and managing partner of Retirement Law Group (RLG) – a law firm for plan sponsors, investment professionals and service providers concerning all aspects of retirement-related products and services – and a founder and managing member of Group Plan Systems (GPG) – a professional, independent fiduciary services organization that administers and serves as a “named fiduciary” for employer-sponsored retirement plans.   Prior to founding PRI, RLG and GPS, Jason was a partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Group at a leading ERISA law firm and the head of the Investment Fiduciary practice for a national securities law firm.   Jason has published numerous articles focusing on ERISA and securities compliance, fiduciary best practices and is a frequent speaker at retirement plan and financial industry conferences. He is a contributing author and faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute, has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine.  Jason was also selected by InvestmentNews as one of the “Top 40 Advisors &amp; Associated Professionals under 40” and was tapped by the Wall Street Journal for its Ask the Experts series, answering readers’ questions relating to Department of Labor Fiduciary Regulations.   Jason received his B.S.B.A in Finance and Banking from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from UCLA Law School.   Outside of work, you can find Jason fishing offshore, gardening, tending a wide range fresh citrus in his grove, cooking, and spending time with his wife, Val, and children, Lola and Spencer.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

I am happy to welcome back another guest who seemingly had predictive powers in prior episodes to briefly reflect on that prediction and give his crystal ball another look. Joining me is Jason Roberts, CEO of Pension Resource Institute and Retirement Law Group and managing partner at Group Plan Systems. Jason also shares input on evaluating some services plan sponsors use that are tougher to compare than say a large cap growth fund. Lot’s of food for thought today, I hope you get as much out of the conversation as I did.  Coming up on the podcast, we are going to delve into the conversation of whether auto everything works in retirement plans, check in on the markets and economy and much more. If you have ideas for a future guest or topic, please send me a message on LInkedIn and we will take it from there.  Guest BIo Jason C. Roberts is an attorney who focuses on the intersection of tax, ERISA and securities laws and regulations.  He is the founder and CEO of Pension Resource Institute, LLC (PRI) – a consulting firm that helps banks, broker-dealers and investment advisers with compliance, training and practice management focused on serving retirement investors.  Jason is also the founder and managing partner of Retirement Law Group (RLG) – a law firm for plan sponsors, investment professionals and service providers concerning all aspects of retirement-related products and services – and a founder and managing member of Group Plan Systems (GPG) – a professional, independent fiduciary services organization that administers and serves as a “named fiduciary” for employer-sponsored retirement plans. Prior to founding PRI, RLG and GPS, Jason was a partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Group at a leading ERISA law firm and the head of the Investment Fiduciary practice for a national securities law firm. Jason has published numerous articles focusing on ERISA and securities compliance, fiduciary best practices and is a frequent speaker at retirement plan and financial industry conferences. He is a contributing author and faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute, has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine.  Jason was also selected by InvestmentNews as one of the “Top 40 Advisors &amp; Associated Professionals under 40” and was tapped by the Wall Street Journal for its Ask the Experts series, answering readers’ questions relating to Department of Labor Fiduciary Regulations. Jason received his B.S.B.A in Finance and Banking from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from UCLA Law School. Outside of work, you can find Jason fishing offshore, gardening, tending a wide range fresh citrus in his grove, cooking, and spending time with his wife, Val, and children, Lola and Spencer. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Pooled Employer Plans, Canaries & Managed Accounts

If you hadn’t noticed, 2022 hasn’t produced the best results in the financial markets. The questions on everyone’s mind are how did we get here and what’s next? To delve into those and many other questions I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer overseeing the Multi-Asset Strategies Division at American Century Investments. Personally, I’m glad we were able to pry him away from CNBC, Bloomberg TV or Fox Business News to share his timely insights! A quick warning, everything we discuss is not puppy dogs and rose petals. I strongly believe in workplace retirement plans, the power of dollar cost averaging, and the long term health of the market. However, these are challenging and unique times in the market and the economy. I felt steering into some of that would be worthwhile.   If you have been enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app, that helps the infamous algorithms and grows the audience. Enjoy!    Guest Bio  Richard Weiss is senior vice president and chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments.  Mr. Weiss oversees the team that manages the firm's multi-asset strategies, including the One Choice (Target Risk and Target Date) Portfolios®, Strategic Allocation and investments offered in the Learning Quest® 529 Education Savings Program. He also serves as a member of the American Century Investments Asset Allocation Committee, which is responsible for establishing investment policy and reviewing investment decisions for all of the firm's multi-asset products.  Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Mr. Weiss was executive vice president and chief investment officer of City National Bank, where he was responsible for the bank's investment management group and directed investment policy and strategy. Previously, he was executive vice president and chief investment officer at Sanwa Bank California, where he managed all aspects of their investment department. Earlier in his career, Mr. Weiss held senior investment positions at Vantage Global Advisors, TSA Capital Management, PaineWebber and Mellon Bank.  An investment veteran with over 35 years of experience, Mr. Weiss holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has authored several academic papers and is well known for his advanced work in the field of global investing. Mr. Weiss is also a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business and Bloomberg Radio.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

If you hadn’t noticed, 2022 hasn’t produced the best results in the financial markets. The questions on everyone’s mind are how did we get here and what’s next? To delve into those and many other questions I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer overseeing the Multi-Asset Strategies Division at American Century Investments. Personally, I’m glad we were able to pry him away from CNBC, Bloomberg TV or Fox Business News to share his timely insights! A quick warning, everything we discuss is not puppy dogs and rose petals. I strongly believe in workplace retirement plans, the power of dollar cost averaging, and the long term health of the market. However, these are challenging and unique times in the market and the economy. I felt steering into some of that would be worthwhile. If you have been enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating or review on your favorite podcast app, that helps the infamous algorithms and grows the audience. Enjoy!  Guest Bio Richard Weiss is senior vice president and chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments. Mr. Weiss oversees the team that manages the firm's multi-asset strategies, including the One Choice (Target Risk and Target Date) Portfolios®, Strategic Allocation and investments offered in the Learning Quest® 529 Education Savings Program. He also serves as a member of the American Century Investments Asset Allocation Committee, which is responsible for establishing investment policy and reviewing investment decisions for all of the firm's multi-asset products. Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Mr. Weiss was executive vice president and chief investment officer of City National Bank, where he was responsible for the bank's investment management group and directed investment policy and strategy. Previously, he was executive vice president and chief investment officer at Sanwa Bank California, where he managed all aspects of their investment department. Earlier in his career, Mr. Weiss held senior investment positions at Vantage Global Advisors, TSA Capital Management, PaineWebber and Mellon Bank. An investment veteran with over 35 years of experience, Mr. Weiss holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has authored several academic papers and is well known for his advanced work in the field of global investing. Mr. Weiss is also a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business and Bloomberg Radio. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Thoughts on Market Declines, Parity of Returns & V-Shaped Recoveries

Today, I am excited to launch the fall series of episodes and we start with stable value investments. My guest is Steve Horner, CFA and Portfolio Manager in the Corporate and Tax-Exempt Credit group within Fixed Income at Putnam Investments. With the historic interest rate hikes, surging bond yields and talk of recession Steve shares what all this means for stable value funds. We also hit on some of the basics around what a stable value fund is, how they work and a few tips to evaluate and understand what is going on under the surface. We also delve into some more technical elements like wrap insurance and put provisions. Good stuff, I learned a lot and hope you do as well! Guest Bio Mr. Horner is a Portfolio Manager in the Corporate and Tax-Exempt Credit group within Fixed Income,focusing on Putnam's Stable Value portfolios. He manages stable value, general account insurance, structured investment-grade, absolute return, and multi-sector fixed-income portfolios. Mr. Horner is responsible for portfolio construction, fiduciary oversight, and the communication of investment team decisions on policy, strategy, and tactics to Putnam's fixed income clients. He joined Putnam in 1997 and has been in the investment industry since 1991. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Today, I am excited to launch the fall series of episodes and we start with stable value investments. My guest is Steve Horner, CFA and Portfolio Manager in the Corporate and Tax-Exempt Credit group within Fixed Income at Putnam Investments. With the historic interest rate hikes, surging bond yields and talk of recession Steve shares what all this means for stable value funds. We also hit on some of the basics around what a stable value fund is, how they work and a few tips to evaluate and understand what is going on under the surface. We also delve into some more technical elements like wrap insurance and put provisions. Good stuff, I learned a lot and hope you do as well! Guest Bio Mr. Horner is a Portfolio Manager in the Corporate and Tax-Exempt Credit group within Fixed Income,focusing on Putnam's Stable Value portfolios. He manages stable value, general account insurance, structured investment-grade, absolute return, and multi-sector fixed-income portfolios. Mr. Horner is responsible for portfolio construction, fiduciary oversight, and the communication of investment team decisions on policy, strategy, and tactics to Putnam's fixed income clients. He joined Putnam in 1997 and has been in the investment industry since 1991. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 225 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcast" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode every other Friday!

Rising Rates, Inflation & The Future of "Cash" In 401(k) Plans

The 401(k) Fridays Podcast features a weekly conversation with an expert guest to help employers and their service partners keep up with workplace retirement plan topics and trends. Listen today, improve your retirement plan tomorrow!

I think I may be like most, and only know very little about the mechanics of our 401k. I learn a little with each podcast. Keep up the good work!

Great Understanding

Timely content and good selection of guests.

Keep up the good work!

401(k) Fridays Podcast

Introduction The 401(k) Fridays podcast offers companies of all sizes free strategic, educational and actionable content to improve  their retirement plans.  My name is Rick Unser and I am your host.  All episodes leverage my nearly two decades of experience working with employers to bring you candid interviews with industry experts, new best practices and valuable perspectives on current events. Episode Summary The main focus of our conversation is determining if some common employer beliefs about retirement plan audits are truth or myth. John also pulls from his experience to offer some tips to employers who are preparing for their first audit and best practices for some grizzled veterans to help their audit run smoothly. Guest Bio  My guest today is John Russon, a retirement plan auditor and founder of Pension Assurance, a single purpose audit firm that specializes in auditing qualified retirement plans.  In 2005, after spending several years working at both “Big Four” and local CPA firms, John launched a small, independent practice dedicated to the audit of retirement plans. This fledgling practice was merged with a local CPA firm in 2006. Over the next seven years, the practice grew substantially. In 2007, the practice performed he formed Pension Assurance.  As of early 2016, John and his firm audit over 170 retirement plans.  According to the recent Department of Labor study, this puts them in the top 2% of firms that audit retirement plans.  This also gives them great perspective on what is happening in the marketplace. Show Links Retirement Plan Auditor Sample RFP Questions DOL Study on Retirement Plan Auditors  For my information please visit www.401kfridays.com

Introduction The 401(k) Fridays podcast offers companies of all sizes free strategic, educational and actionable content to improve  their retirement plans.  My name is Rick Unser and I am your host.  All episodes leverage my nearly two decades of experience working with employers to bring you candid interviews with industry experts, new best practices and valuable perspectives on current events. Episode Summary The main focus of our conversation is determining if some common employer beliefs about retirement plan audits are truth or myth. John also pulls from his experience to offer some tips to employers who are preparing for their first audit and best practices for some grizzled veterans to help their audit run smoothly. Guest Bio My guest today is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-russon-4097817" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Russon</a>, a retirement plan auditor and founder of <a href="http://pensionassurance.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pension Assurance</a>, a single purpose audit firm that specializes in auditing qualified retirement plans.  In 2005, after spending several years working at both “Big Four” and local CPA firms, John launched a small, independent practice dedicated to the audit of retirement plans. This fledgling practice was merged with a local CPA firm in 2006. Over the next seven years, the practice grew substantially. In 2007, the practice performed he formed Pension Assurance.  As of early 2016, John and his firm audit over 170 retirement plans.  According to the recent Department of Labor study, this puts them in the top 2% of firms that audit retirement plans.  This also gives them great perspective on what is happening in the marketplace. Show Links <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/#!white-papers/py4rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Retirement Plan Auditor Sample RFP Questions</a> <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/#!white-papers/py4rs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DOL Study on Retirement Plan Auditors </a> For my information please visit <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.401kfridays.com</a>

401(k) Audits - Truth vs. Myth

Over the years, and certainly recently there has been a lot of focus on the Department of Labor and their role in overseeing workplace retirement plans.  What some might not realize or fully appreciate is the role if the Internal Revenue Service, better known as the IRS in overseeing retirement plans.  To help employers get their arms around things I was excited to have Susan Mehlman, a Director in the National Tax Group and the Compensation and Benefits Practice Leader at Moss Adams join me on the podcast!  During our conversation we highlight the different focusses of the IRS and the DOL in policing workplace retirement plans, how employers end up in the crosshairs of the IRS and some tips and strategies to help minimize the risk of an IRS audit or investigation.     This week also marks a first on the podcast as we also re-released one of our very first podcast episodes which focussed on the role of the DOL.  I thought this might make a natural follow-up from my conversation with Susan.  While that episode was recorded early in 2016, the content is just as relevant today as it was last year.  As an added bonus, don’t miss the last twelve minutes of the podcast where we do have a fresh update on what to expect from the DOL now that we have a new Secretary of Labor, the status of the Fiduciary Rule and other helpful information for employers who sponsor workplace retirement plans!  Once you finish this episode on the IRS, be sure to check out the one on the DOL! Guest Bio Susan leads the Compensation and Benefits Practice for Moss Adams and has provided qualified and nonqualified plan design and consulting  services since 1987. She delivers a wide range of tax solutions, including health and welfare plan tax consulting, to both public and privately held businesses.  Susan has managed services to plans of all sizes from newly formed, small, single-employer plans to large employer plans with over 70,000 participants and assets in excess of $2 billion. She works directly with clients on tax compliance issues including responding to IRS and DOL audit inquiries and coordinates closely with various industry groups and employee benefit plan auditors within the firm. Her responsibilities include managing the client relationship through all aspects of plan design and implementation, assisting plan sponsors in setting objectives, and monitoring the success of these strategies. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over sixty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Over the years, and certainly recently there has been a lot of focus on the Department of Labor and their role in overseeing workplace retirement plans.  What some might not realize or fully appreciate is the role if the Internal Revenue Service, better known as the IRS in overseeing retirement plans.  To help employers get their arms around things I was excited to have Susan Mehlman, a Director in the National Tax Group and the Compensation and Benefits Practice Leader at Moss Adams join me on the podcast!  During our conversation we highlight the different focusses of the IRS and the DOL in policing workplace retirement plans, how employers end up in the crosshairs of the IRS and some tips and strategies to help minimize the risk of an IRS audit or investigation.   This week also marks a first on the podcast as we also re-released one of our very first podcast episodes which focussed on the role of the DOL.  I thought this might make a natural follow-up from my conversation with Susan.  While that episode was recorded early in 2016, the content is just as relevant today as it was last year.  As an added bonus, don’t miss the last twelve minutes of the podcast where we do have a fresh update on what to expect from the DOL now that we have a new Secretary of Labor, the status of the Fiduciary Rule and other helpful information for employers who sponsor workplace retirement plans!  Once you finish this episode on the IRS, be sure to check out the one on the DOL! Guest Bio Susan leads the Compensation and Benefits Practice for Moss Adams and has provided qualified and nonqualified plan design and consulting  services since 1987. She delivers a wide range of tax solutions, including health and welfare plan tax consulting, to both public and privately held businesses.  Susan has managed services to plans of all sizes from newly formed, small, single-employer plans to large employer plans with over 70,000 participants and assets in excess of $2 billion. She works directly with clients on tax compliance issues including responding to IRS and DOL audit inquiries and coordinates closely with various industry groups and employee benefit plan auditors within the firm. Her responsibilities include managing the client relationship through all aspects of plan design and implementation, assisting plan sponsors in setting objectives, and monitoring the success of these strategies. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over sixty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

The IRS & Your 401(k) Plan

Have index funds dropped the proverbial mic, walked off the stage and declared victory in the decades long debate of active vs. passive investment management?  My guest, Sean Lewis, a CFA and Institutional Investment Strategist with BlackRock has a few things to say about the topic!  He does a great job explaining the current market forces driving the continued growth in index investing, questions employers should be asking of themselves to help strike an appropriate balance between index and active management and what asset classes tend to favor index or active management.  Sean also reveals that not all index funds are created the same, a few tips to evaluate them, whether its harder to index equity or fixed income securities and how to tell if you have a plain boring index or one that is trying to do something more than just track their benchmark.     As you listen to our conversation, if it causes you to think a little more about how your retirement plan investment menu is constructed, as a reminder last year we released a three part podcast series on the fundamentals of 401(k) investment menu design.  You can find it by either scrolling through your favorite podcast app or on the web at 401kfridays.com/podcasts.      Guest Bio Sean Lewis, CFA, Vice President, is an Investment Strategist within BlackRock's US and Canada Defined Contribution group. He is responsible for representing BlackRock's Defined Contribution ("DC") capabilities to institutional investors, investment consultants and advisors. The team also partners with Research and Product Development to evolve DC solutions, and works closely with the distribution teams to provide thought leadership and client analytics.  Mr. Lewis' service with the firm dates back to 2013. Prior to joining BlackRock, he was a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch responsible for managing credit relationships for a portfolio of mid and large-cap clients.  Mr. Lewis earned a BS degree in Agricultural Finance from the University of California at Davis in 2009. He is a CFA charterholder.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Have index funds dropped the proverbial mic, walked off the stage and declared victory in the decades long debate of active vs. passive investment management?  My guest, Sean Lewis, a CFA and Institutional Investment Strategist with BlackRock has a few things to say about the topic!  He does a great job explaining the current market forces driving the continued growth in index investing, questions employers should be asking of themselves to help strike an appropriate balance between index and active management and what asset classes tend to favor index or active management.  Sean also reveals that not all index funds are created the same, a few tips to evaluate them, whether its harder to index equity or fixed income securities and how to tell if you have a plain boring index or one that is trying to do something more than just track their benchmark.   As you listen to our conversation, if it causes you to think a little more about how your retirement plan investment menu is constructed, as a reminder last year we released a three part podcast series on the fundamentals of 401(k) investment menu design.  You can find it by either scrolling through your favorite podcast app or on the web at <a href="http://401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kfridays.com/podcasts</a>.    Guest Bio Sean Lewis, CFA, Vice President, is an Investment Strategist within BlackRock's US and Canada Defined Contribution group. He is responsible for representing BlackRock's Defined Contribution ("DC") capabilities to institutional investors, investment consultants and advisors. The team also partners with Research and Product Development to evolve DC solutions, and works closely with the distribution teams to provide thought leadership and client analytics. Mr. Lewis' service with the firm dates back to 2013. Prior to joining BlackRock, he was a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch responsible for managing credit relationships for a portfolio of mid and large-cap clients. Mr. Lewis earned a BS degree in Agricultural Finance from the University of California at Davis in 2009. He is a CFA charterholder. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Has the Index vs. Active Management Debate Finally Been Won?

We have spent a lot of time on the podcast talking about how to make your retirement plan stronger and healthier.  Today, we turn the conversation on its head and discuss strategies to make your retirement plan unattractive, to plaintiff’s attorneys and the ERISA lawsuits.  With me I have two previous podcast guests, we have our legal eagle Tom Clark, ERISA Attorney with Wagner Law Group and our voice of the retirement industry Josh Dietch.   There is laughter, witty banter and even some great suggestions you can take away and bring to your next retirement committee meeting.   Before we get started, we will soon announce our next live webinar to our email subscribers coming up in May.  Thank you again to everyone who voted!  I am happy share that our next topic will be, drum roll, “Should Your Employees Consider Your HSA Plan as a Retirement Plan?”.  Again, stay tuned for the email soon to come email announcement.  As a reminder, if you are not an email subscriber, you are missing out on valuable podcast updates, opportunities to submit ideas for topics to explore, questions to future guests, timely white papers and invitations to our webinars and other live events.  If you are not part of our growing community, go to www.401kfridays.com/subscribe today and you can get that taken care of.     Guest Bios Tom Clark is Of Counsel with The Wagner Law Group, a law firm specializing in ERISA &amp; Employee Benefits, Estate Planning, and Employment, Labor &amp; Human Resources Law. His expertise encompasses all aspects of employee benefits programs, including the design, implementation and compliance of retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive and incentive compensation arrangements. He also has a robust practice assisting industry service providers in meeting their ERISA compliance and general business needs. Tom is also a well-seasoned ERISA litigator. Earlier in his career, he worked for the law firm of Schlichter, Bogard &amp; Denton including on such landmark cases as Tibble v. Edison, which was heard this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Tom is Editor-in-Chief of the Fiduciary Matters Blog, a blog visited over 150,000 times since its first publication in March 2013. He also teaches ERISA Fiduciary Law as an Adjunct Professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, his alma mater. ​ Josh Dietch joined Chatham Partners in 2005 and is a Managing Director. In this capacity, Joshua manages research and consulting engagements that focus on client retention and new business development processes. Prior to joining Chatham, Joshua was Director, Product Marketing and Management with ADP Retirement Services managing product development and marketing for ADP's defined contribution and executive deferred compensation products. Earlier in his career, Joshua was a consultant with Cerulli Associates, helping financial service firms with both business strategy and new product development, and previously worked for a subsidiary of the Principal Financial Group. He has been quoted on financial issues for leading publications such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Pensions and Investments, Investment News and several trade publications, and has also appeared on CNBC. Joshua received his B.A. in History from Bates College.     401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

We have spent a lot of time on the podcast talking about how to make your retirement plan stronger and healthier.  Today, we turn the conversation on its head and discuss strategies to make your retirement plan unattractive, to plaintiff’s attorneys and the ERISA lawsuits.  With me I have two previous podcast guests, we have our legal eagle Tom Clark, ERISA Attorney with Wagner Law Group and our voice of the retirement industry Josh Dietch.   There is laughter, witty banter and even some great suggestions you can take away and bring to your next retirement committee meeting.   Before we get started, we will soon announce our next live webinar to our email subscribers coming up in May.  Thank you again to everyone who voted!  I am happy share that our next topic will be, drum roll, “Should Your Employees Consider Your HSA Plan as a Retirement Plan?”.  Again, stay tuned for the email soon to come email announcement.  As a reminder, if you are not an email subscriber, you are missing out on valuable podcast updates, opportunities to submit ideas for topics to explore, questions to future guests, timely white papers and invitations to our webinars and other live events.  If you are not part of our growing community, go to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.401kfridays.com/subscribe</a> today and you can get that taken care of.   Guest Bios Tom Clark is Of Counsel with The Wagner Law Group, a law firm specializing in ERISA &amp; Employee Benefits, Estate Planning, and Employment, Labor &amp; Human Resources Law. His expertise encompasses all aspects of employee benefits programs, including the design, implementation and compliance of retirement plans, health and welfare plans, and executive and incentive compensation arrangements. He also has a robust practice assisting industry service providers in meeting their ERISA compliance and general business needs. Tom is also a well-seasoned ERISA litigator. Earlier in his career, he worked for the law firm of Schlichter, Bogard &amp; Denton including on such landmark cases as Tibble v. Edison, which was heard this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Tom is Editor-in-Chief of the Fiduciary Matters Blog, a blog visited over 150,000 times since its first publication in March 2013. He also teaches ERISA Fiduciary Law as an Adjunct Professor at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, his alma mater. ​ Josh Dietch joined Chatham Partners in 2005 and is a Managing Director. In this capacity, Joshua manages research and consulting engagements that focus on client retention and new business development processes. Prior to joining Chatham, Joshua was Director, Product Marketing and Management with ADP Retirement Services managing product development and marketing for ADP's defined contribution and executive deferred compensation products. Earlier in his career, Joshua was a consultant with Cerulli Associates, helping financial service firms with both business strategy and new product development, and previously worked for a subsidiary of the Principal Financial Group. He has been quoted on financial issues for leading publications such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Pensions and Investments, Investment News and several trade publications, and has also appeared on CNBC. Joshua received his B.A. in History from Bates College. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Is Your Retirement Plan Unattractive to ERISA Plaintiffs Attorneys?

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Target Date Funds (TDFs) have grown exponentially within the last few years. As a retirement plan fiduciary, it’s important to understand not only what a TDF is but how to evaluate them and ensure the strategy you have chosen or might be considering is a good fit for your plan.  During my conversation with Jeff we provide some core concepts such as glide path construction, too vs. through retirement and open vs. closed architecture design to see if they are still relevant.  We also hit hot topics such as if the active vs. index investing conversation impacts TDFs, the ever popular topic of investment fees and the perils of looking the performance of TDFs in a vacuum. Finally, we provide retirement plan committee members and plan fiduciaries several important questions to consider at your next retirement committee or plan review meeting.     Guest Bio Jeff Holt, CFA, is an associate director on Morningstar’s manager research team. He focuses primarily on multiasset strategies from asset managers including Fidelity, BlackRock, and Principal.    Before joining Morningstar in 2014, Holt spent nearly nine years at Jeffrey Slocum &amp; Associates, where he was responsible for investment research to support the firm’s defined contribution practice. He covered target-date funds, stable value funds, and other asset classes specific to defined contribution clients.    Holt holds a bachelor’s degree in management, with a concentration in corporate finance, from Brigham Young University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Target Date Funds (TDFs) have grown exponentially within the last few years. As a retirement plan fiduciary, it’s important to understand not only what a TDF is but how to evaluate them and ensure the strategy you have chosen or might be considering is a good fit for your plan.  During my conversation with Jeff we provide some core concepts such as glide path construction, too vs. through retirement and open vs. closed architecture design to see if they are still relevant.  We also hit hot topics such as if the active vs. index investing conversation impacts TDFs, the ever popular topic of investment fees and the perils of looking the performance of TDFs in a vacuum. Finally, we provide retirement plan committee members and plan fiduciaries several important questions to consider at your next retirement committee or plan review meeting.   Guest Bio Jeff Holt, CFA, is an associate director on Morningstar’s manager research team. He focuses primarily on multiasset strategies from asset managers including Fidelity, BlackRock, and Principal.  Before joining Morningstar in 2014, Holt spent nearly nine years at Jeffrey Slocum &amp; Associates, where he was responsible for investment research to support the firm’s defined contribution practice. He covered target-date funds, stable value funds, and other asset classes specific to defined contribution clients.  Holt holds a bachelor’s degree in management, with a concentration in corporate finance, from Brigham Young University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Target Date Retirement Funds: Morningstar Shares Insights For Retirement Plan Fiduciaries

Employers and Retirement Plan Fiduciaries have the difficult task of selecting retirement plan advisors. The names and titles alone can be incredibly confusing! Of the 100,000 practicing advisors, 3,000 are active in the retirement market and may be considered "DC Specialists" as my guest Robin Green, SVP &amp; Head of Data &amp; Analytics at Ann Schleck &amp; Company | Fi360 would call them.  She breaks down DC specialists into three sub-categories: The Broker, the Cowboy, and the Consultant.  Additionally, we discuss:  Three types of fiduciaries and what it means when an advisor claims 3(21), 3(38), and participant level fiduciary status. Three important questions to ask your current advisor in light of the new DOL rule. Weighing the difference between cost and value, and How model portfolios, retirement solutions, fees and expertise should be considered while benchmarking and selecting advisory services.   Episode Guest Robin Green is Senior Vice President and head of Data &amp; Analytics at Ann Schleck &amp; Co., an Fi360 company.  She is responsible for the proprietary databases that track on DC Specialist advisor practice management, fee, service and overall business trends.  She is responsible for the Fee Almanac®, Fee Benchmarker®, IRA Fee Evaluator and the FI360 Fiduciary Score.  Robin specializes in developing useful patterns, ideas and insights based on data and more than 20 years of retirement industry experience.  She is a research board member at DCIIA and a frequent speaker at industry conferences.  Robin has a BA from Concordia University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Employers and Retirement Plan Fiduciaries have the difficult task of selecting retirement plan advisors. The names and titles alone can be incredibly confusing! Of the 100,000 practicing advisors, 3,000 are active in the retirement market and may be considered "DC Specialists" as my guest <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robingreen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robin Green</a>, SVP &amp; Head of Data &amp; Analytics at <a href="https://www.annschleck.com/index.html" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Ann Schleck &amp; Company | Fi360</a> would call them.  She breaks down DC specialists into three sub-categories: The Broker, the Cowboy, and the Consultant.  Additionally, we discuss: <ul> <li>Three types of fiduciaries and what it means when an advisor claims 3(21), 3(38), and participant level fiduciary status.</li> <li>Three important questions to ask your current advisor in light of the new DOL rule.</li> <li>Weighing the difference between cost and value, and</li> <li>How model portfolios, retirement solutions, fees and expertise should be considered while benchmarking and selecting advisory services. </li> </ul> Episode Guest Robin Green is Senior Vice President and head of Data &amp; Analytics at Ann Schleck &amp; Co., an Fi360 company.  She is responsible for the proprietary databases that track on DC Specialist advisor practice management, fee, service and overall business trends.  She is responsible for the Fee Almanac®, Fee Benchmarker®, IRA Fee Evaluator and the FI360 Fiduciary Score.  Robin specializes in developing useful patterns, ideas and insights based on data and more than 20 years of retirement industry experience.  She is a research board member at DCIIA and a frequent speaker at industry conferences.  Robin has a BA from Concordia University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

A Broker, Cowboy or Consultant: Which Type of 401(k) Advisor Are You Working With?

Jerry Schlichter

This episode marks a few milestones on the 401(k) Fridays Podcast, it’s the 100th episode, the first episode of 2018 and features part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Jerry Schlichter.  For some of our listeners Jerry requires no introduction.  If you are not familiar, Jerry and his firm Schlichter Bogard &amp; Denton have been the driving force behind many of the headline grabbing 401(k) lawsuits over the past decade.  As you will hear, his firm has successfully garnered multi-million dollar settlements, argued a 401(k) case in front of the US Supreme Court and has recently filed several more lawsuits against some very prominent universities.  In part 1 of our conversation we discuss the origins of 401(k) litigation against employers, the “bet the farm” decision he made with his firm, why they turn down certain cases, why some cases succeed and others don’t, an important beacon for plan fiduciaries to follow and much more.  What clearly comes through is that Jerry has a tremendous passion for retirement plan participants, he is very knowledgable about how retirement plans work and has strong opinions on what employers should and should not do if they don’t want to run into him or his firm in the future!  Guest Bio Jerry Schlichter, Founding and Managing Partner of Schlichter, Bogard &amp; Denton, pioneered Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) excessive fee litigation and has represented employees and retirees in 20 401(k) excessive fee cases. In recent rankings of the most influential people in the 401(k) industry by 401kwire.com, Schlichter has repeatedly ranked in the top 5. This is in recognition of his accomplishments with numerous nationwide class actions brought on behalf of employees and retirees in large, corporate 401(k) plans, alleging excessive fees and conflicts of interest that reduce employees’ and retirees’ retirement assets. In 2006, after a year and nine months of investigation into the industry, he and his firm filed his first in a series of cases on behalf of employees and retirees. At that time, no case had ever been brought alleging excessive fees in a 401(k) plan, despite the 401(k) having become America’s de facto retirement system, and there being over 500,000 plans in America. In addition, the Department of Labor had never brought a case for excessive fees in a 401(k) plan. Since that time his firm has reached precedent setting settlements in over a dozen cases, on behalf of 401(k) plan employees and retirees representing over 1.5 million workers and retirees. These settlements have not only included monetary recoveries for the workers and retirees, but each has also included provisions going forward to reform the plans and to ensure that fees will be reasonable in the future. Schlichter and his firm have been referred to by federal judges as “preeminent “in the field of 401(k) fee litigation; as demonstrating “extraordinary skill and determination”; as making “a significant, national contribution,” having “educated plan administrators, the Department of Labor,  the courts” about fees and fiduciary obligations; and he has been referred to by federal judges as a “private attorney general,” causing fees to come down in the entire 401(k) industry. He has also been referred to as the “Lone Ranger” of 401(k) plans in the NY Times, and the term “Schlichterized” has been used to describe being sued by his firm. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 100 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

This episode marks a few milestones on the 401(k) Fridays Podcast, it’s the 100th episode, the first episode of 2018 and features part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Jerry Schlichter.  For some of our listeners Jerry requires no introduction.  If you are not familiar, Jerry and his firm Schlichter Bogard &amp; Denton have been the driving force behind many of the headline grabbing 401(k) lawsuits over the past decade.  As you will hear, his firm has successfully garnered multi-million dollar settlements, argued a 401(k) case in front of the US Supreme Court and has recently filed several more lawsuits against some very prominent universities.  In part 1 of our conversation we discuss the origins of 401(k) litigation against employers, the “bet the farm” decision he made with his firm, why they turn down certain cases, why some cases succeed and others don’t, an important beacon for plan fiduciaries to follow and much more.  What clearly comes through is that Jerry has a tremendous passion for retirement plan participants, he is very knowledgable about how retirement plans work and has strong opinions on what employers should and should not do if they don’t want to run into him or his firm in the future!  Guest Bio Jerry Schlichter, Founding and Managing Partner of Schlichter, Bogard &amp; Denton, pioneered Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) excessive fee litigation and has represented employees and retirees in 20 401(k) excessive fee cases. In recent rankings of the most influential people in the 401(k) industry by <a href="http://401kwire.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kwire.com</a>, Schlichter has repeatedly ranked in the top 5. This is in recognition of his accomplishments with numerous nationwide class actions brought on behalf of employees and retirees in large, corporate 401(k) plans, alleging excessive fees and conflicts of interest that reduce employees’ and retirees’ retirement assets. In 2006, after a year and nine months of investigation into the industry, he and his firm filed his first in a series of cases on behalf of employees and retirees. At that time, no case had ever been brought alleging excessive fees in a 401(k) plan, despite the 401(k) having become America’s de facto retirement system, and there being over 500,000 plans in America. In addition, the Department of Labor had never brought a case for excessive fees in a 401(k) plan. Since that time his firm has reached precedent setting settlements in over a dozen cases, on behalf of 401(k) plan employees and retirees representing over 1.5 million workers and retirees. These settlements have not only included monetary recoveries for the workers and retirees, but each has also included provisions going forward to reform the plans and to ensure that fees will be reasonable in the future. Schlichter and his firm have been referred to by federal judges as “preeminent “in the field of 401(k) fee litigation; as demonstrating “extraordinary skill and determination”; as making “a significant, national contribution,” having “educated plan administrators, the Department of Labor, the courts” about fees and fiduciary obligations; and he has been referred to by federal judges as a “private attorney general,” causing fees to come down in the entire 401(k) industry. He has also been referred to as the “Lone Ranger” of 401(k) plans in the NY Times, and the term “Schlichterized” has been used to describe being sued by his firm. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 100 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Keeping the 401(k) Boogey Man Away: A Conversation with THE 401(k) Litigator Jerry Schlichter - Part 1 of 2

For the last several years a consistent message in the marketplace for retirement plan sponsors, participants and the industry has been the importance of investment fees. The good news is nearly all investment fees have been on a downward trend.  As the cost of many passive investment options approach zero, is expense still the most important factor when evaluating index strategies?  Today, I am happy to welcome Marty Kleppe, Head of Index Investing at Vanguard to share his thoughts.  With the continued popularity of index funds in retirement plans, Marty shares some timely thoughts about index investing is more than just low cost, what securities lending is and the role it plays and finally how there is skill involved in managing index funds.  This was a great conversation and one to definitely stick with to the end as I give Marty the opportunity to respond to some of comments active managers have shared about index managers over the years. Also, Marty and his team put together a white paper on this topic which you can access from the link in the notes or by searching Vanguard Beyond Expense Ratio.   Guest Bio Martin Kleppe is the head of Equity Index Product Management in Vanguard Portfolio Review Department, where his team is responsible for conducting surveillance of competitor products and positioning, meeting with clients and prospects to discuss Vanguard's equity index lineup, publishing on noteworthy developments in the equity index marketplace and Vanguard lineup, and supporting equity index education initiatives. Mr. Kleppe joined Vanguard in 1989, and joined Portfolio Review in 2003. For the majority of his tenure with Portfolio Review, Mr. Kleppe was a senior member of the Product Strategy team, which is responsible for researching, designing, and launching new funds; monitoring the health of the existing fund lineup; researching, proposing, and implementing changes to the existing fund lineup; and coordinating these functions across five global jurisdictions. In 2016, Mr. Kleppe became the Global SMA Product Manager. His responsibilities included researching and defining the investment capabilities available to SMA (separately managed account) clients and overseeing the various organizational processes needed to support SMAs. He assumed his current role in 2017, and continues to work with SMAs. Mr. Kleppe earned a B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. Saint Joseph's University. In addition, he is a CFA® charterholder and is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia.  CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview  Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 150 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

For the last several years a consistent message in the marketplace for retirement plan sponsors, participants and the industry has been the importance of investment fees. The good news is nearly all investment fees have been on a downward trend.  As the cost of many passive investment options approach zero, is expense still the most important factor when evaluating index strategies?  Today, I am happy to welcome Marty Kleppe, Head of Index Investing at Vanguard to share his thoughts.  With the continued popularity of index funds in retirement plans, Marty shares some timely thoughts about index investing is more than just low cost, what securities lending is and the role it plays and finally how there is skill involved in managing index funds.  This was a great conversation and one to definitely stick with to the end as I give Marty the opportunity to respond to some of comments active managers have shared about index managers over the years. Also, Marty and his team put together a white paper on this topic which you can access from the link in the notes or by searching <a href="https://institutional.vanguard.com/iam/pdf/INDEXWP.pdf?INCMPGN=IN;IIG;DC;Resources;Research" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Vanguard Beyond Expense</a> Ratio.   Guest Bio Martin Kleppe is the head of Equity Index Product Management in Vanguard Portfolio Review Department, where his team is responsible for conducting surveillance of competitor products and positioning, meeting with clients and prospects to discuss Vanguard's equity index lineup, publishing on noteworthy developments in the equity index marketplace and Vanguard lineup, and supporting equity index education initiatives. Mr. Kleppe joined Vanguard in 1989, and joined Portfolio Review in 2003. For the majority of his tenure with Portfolio Review, Mr. Kleppe was a senior member of the Product Strategy team, which is responsible for researching, designing, and launching new funds; monitoring the health of the existing fund lineup; researching, proposing, and implementing changes to the existing fund lineup; and coordinating these functions across five global jurisdictions. In 2016, Mr. Kleppe became the Global SMA Product Manager. His responsibilities included researching and defining the investment capabilities available to SMA (separately managed account) clients and overseeing the various organizational processes needed to support SMAs. He assumed his current role in 2017, and continues to work with SMAs. Mr. Kleppe earned a B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A. Saint Joseph's University. In addition, he is a CFA® charterholder and is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia.  CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 150 prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Selecting Index Funds: Just Look At Expense Ratios, or Is There More To Consider?

More and more frequently when I see a news piece or industry article about 401(k) or workplace retirement plans, a key element is invariably fees.  Going one step further they also tend to highlight the advantages of low cost index or passively managed investments.  Based on my conversations with investment committees and retirement plan fiduciaries, there seems to be a few common reasons for the recent increased popularity in index funds: the industry focus on fees, investment performance of passively managed strategies and 401(k) litigation. To comment on my observations and provide a few of her own on the whole active and passive conversation I am excited to have Sue Walton, a Senior Defined Contribution Strategist with American Funds join me on the podcast.  We also address a few other important elements in the active passive conversation that don’t tend to get a lot of press, but are vitally important to consider. Hopefully there are a few nuggets you can take back to your next 401(k) committee meeting! Guest Bio Sue Walton is a senior defined contribution strategist at American Funds, part of Capital Group. She has 19 years of industry experience and has been with Capital Group for one year. Prior to joining Capital, Sue was a director at Towers Watson Investment Services. Before that, she was an investment consultant at Mercer Investment Consulting and Ellwood Associates. She holds an MBA from DePaul University with a concentration in finance and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics and international business from Marquette University.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy-five prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

More and more frequently when I see a news piece or industry article about 401(k) or workplace retirement plans, a key element is invariably fees.  Going one step further they also tend to highlight the advantages of low cost index or passively managed investments.  Based on my conversations with investment committees and retirement plan fiduciaries, there seems to be a few common reasons for the recent increased popularity in index funds: the industry focus on fees, investment performance of passively managed strategies and 401(k) litigation. To comment on my observations and provide a few of her own on the whole active and passive conversation I am excited to have Sue Walton, a Senior Defined Contribution Strategist with American Funds join me on the podcast.  We also address a few other important elements in the active passive conversation that don’t tend to get a lot of press, but are vitally important to consider. Hopefully there are a few nuggets you can take back to your next 401(k) committee meeting! Guest Bio Sue Walton is a senior defined contribution strategist at American Funds, part of Capital Group. She has 19 years of industry experience and has been with Capital Group for one year. Prior to joining Capital, Sue was a director at Towers Watson Investment Services. Before that, she was an investment consultant at Mercer Investment Consulting and Ellwood Associates. She holds an MBA from DePaul University with a concentration in finance and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, economics and international business from Marquette University.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over seventy-five prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Active Investment Management in Retirement Plans: Can a Prudent Fiduciary Only Select Index Funds Now?

An offer to outsource or delegate your fiduciary responsibility for your workplace retirement plan can be pretty tempting! When you think about all the rules, tasks, processes, approvals and for that matter the time that you could save if you didn’t have to do all that work, it might sound really good!  However, before you sign on the dotted line, my conversation with J.D. Carlson and Chad Johansen, TPAs with Plan Design Consultants and half of the infamous Retireholi(ks) could be really helpful to gauge what you are signing up for.  We start with some best practices and things to know before outsourcing various administrative functions to an ERISA 3(16) fiduciary.  As you will hear, if someone flashes their fancy 3(16) fiduciary badge, it can mean a lot of different things.  We also share few thoughts on how some of these concepts either do or don’t relate to hiring an ERISA 3(38) investment fiduciary, another way to delegate.  And, we had a first on the podcast, I assigned homework.  With both of my parents now retired teachers, I guess it was just a matter of time.  It involved magic, a staircase and somehow someway it should be really helpful to employers considering delegating various fiduciary responsibilities to a 3(16) fiduciary.  You definitely will have to listen to get any perspective on what I just said.  To get your very own copy, be sure to go to 401kfridays.com and subscribe to our email list.  We will shoot it out once Chad is done with it.  Guest Bio We're Plan Design Consultants, Inc. a retirement company that since 1975 has been providing businesses with affordable, quality plans customized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Over four decades in the business has given PDC the experiences we need to evolve our service model to what it is today.  A smart, easy process centered on the needs of our clients.  A service model designed to be AWESOME! It is our deep understanding of all areas of retirement plans combined with a constant commitment to customer service that sets us apart.  We share our expertise with our clients to make sure they are comfortable and confident in making decisions around maintaining a successful Employer sponsored plan. As an independent company, client advocacy is a major strength of our firm.  We partner with Financial Advisors to offer our clients a very healthy choice in vendors.  A strong understanding of fees and services allows PDC to help clients find the perfect fit. Thousands of retirement plan clients from all over the country have relied on PDC to assist them in offering the right plan to help their employees reach retirement goals.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

An offer to outsource or delegate your fiduciary responsibility for your workplace retirement plan can be pretty tempting! When you think about all the rules, tasks, processes, approvals and for that matter the time that you could save if you didn’t have to do all that work, it might sound really good!  However, before you sign on the dotted line, my conversation with J.D. Carlson and Chad Johansen, TPAs with Plan Design Consultants and half of the infamous Retireholi(ks) could be really helpful to gauge what you are signing up for.  We start with some best practices and things to know before outsourcing various administrative functions to an ERISA 3(16) fiduciary.  As you will hear, if someone flashes their fancy 3(16) fiduciary badge, it can mean a lot of different things.  We also share few thoughts on how some of these concepts either do or don’t relate to hiring an ERISA 3(38) investment fiduciary, another way to delegate.  And, we had a first on the podcast, I assigned homework.  With both of my parents now retired teachers, I guess it was just a matter of time.  It involved magic, a staircase and somehow someway it should be really helpful to employers considering delegating various fiduciary responsibilities to a 3(16) fiduciary.  You definitely will have to listen to get any perspective on what I just said.  To get your very own copy, be sure to go to <a href="http://401kfridays.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kfridays.com</a> and subscribe to our email list.  We will shoot it out once Chad is done with it.  Guest Bio We're Plan Design Consultants, Inc. a retirement company that since 1975 has been providing businesses with affordable, quality plans customized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Over four decades in the business has given PDC the experiences we need to evolve our service model to what it is today.  A smart, easy process centered on the needs of our clients.  A service model designed to be AWESOME! It is our deep understanding of all areas of retirement plans combined with a constant commitment to customer service that sets us apart.  We share our expertise with our clients to make sure they are comfortable and confident in making decisions around maintaining a successful Employer sponsored plan. As an independent company, client advocacy is a major strength of our firm.  We partner with Financial Advisors to offer our clients a very healthy choice in vendors.  A strong understanding of fees and services allows PDC to help clients find the perfect fit. Thousands of retirement plan clients from all over the country have relied on PDC to assist them in offering the right plan to help their employees reach retirement goals.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Outsourcing Your 401(k) Fiduciary Responsibility: Can You, Should You & Why Would You?

Episode Description Thanks to my parents diligently setting aside money in savings bonds and my decision to attend an in-state school I was very fortunate to graduate from college nearly twenty years ago without the burden of student loan debt to repay.  However, for many people over the years and especially today, that is not the case. My guest, Tony Aguilar, the co-founder and CEO of Student Loan Genius does a great job of laying out the realities and challenges for many of your employees who have student debt. What you might be surprised to hear is that nearly half of your workforce could be impacted and its not just a millennial thing!  Tony also does a nice job framing how employers have been adding solutions to help employees with their student loan debt as part of their wellness programs and how some employers are even making contributions towards employee student loans as a recruiting and retention tool!  What is the tie in to retirement you ask, well it wouldn’t be the 401(k) Fridays podcast if we didn’t address that at some point.  As you will hear, paying off debt has an impact on your employees’ ability to save for retirement, however I was pretty excited to learn about some of the new tools and resources employers may offer to help to tackle both loan repayments and retirement savings!  Thank you to our email subscribers for submitting questions ahead of time, I was able to work many of the into our conversation.  If you are not on our email list go to www.401kfridays.com/subscribe and join today!   I learned a lot from this episode, I hope you do as well.   Guest Bio Tony Aguilar is co-founder and CEO of Student Loan Genius, Austin-based inventor of the first complete student loan employer benefits solution. Today he uses his years of experience as a financial advisor and founder of Amiti Advising and Campus Slice to help crush America’s $1.3 trillion student loan problem. Featured in the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and on CNN, his commitment to helping professionals get ahead and live a life free from debt is the common thread in all of his work. When he’s not leading the team at Student Loan Genius, Tony is spending time with his 3-year old daughter. He can also be found guest lecturing at the University of Texas and Concordia University on entrepreneurship and personal finance, serving as Chairman of Concordia University’s Emerging Leaders Advisory Board, or mentoring fellow social entrepreneurs and startups. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Helps employers navigate the evolving retirement benefits landscape through weekly engaging interviews with industry leaders, subject matter experts and progressive employers with unique viewpoints. The diverse in-depth perspectives and relevant topics help employers make more informed decisions about their retirement benefit programs which will positively impact their employees and business.  For more information please visit www.401kfridays.com/podcasts.

Episode Description Thanks to my parents diligently setting aside money in savings bonds and my decision to attend an in-state school I was very fortunate to graduate from college nearly twenty years ago without the burden of student loan debt to repay.  However, for many people over the years and especially today, that is not the case. My guest, Tony Aguilar, the co-founder and CEO of Student Loan Genius does a great job of laying out the realities and challenges for many of your employees who have student debt. What you might be surprised to hear is that nearly half of your workforce could be impacted and its not just a millennial thing!  Tony also does a nice job framing how employers have been adding solutions to help employees with their student loan debt as part of their wellness programs and how some employers are even making contributions towards employee student loans as a recruiting and retention tool!  What is the tie in to retirement you ask, well it wouldn’t be the 401(k) Fridays podcast if we didn’t address that at some point.  As you will hear, paying off debt has an impact on your employees’ ability to save for retirement, however I was pretty excited to learn about some of the new tools and resources employers may offer to help to tackle both loan repayments and retirement savings!  Thank you to our email subscribers for submitting questions ahead of time, I was able to work many of the into our conversation.  If you are not on our email list go to <a>www.401kfridays.com/subscribe</a> and join today!   I learned a lot from this episode, I hope you do as well.   Guest Bio Tony Aguilar is co-founder and CEO of <a>Student Loan Genius</a>, Austin-based inventor of the first complete student loan employer benefits solution. Today he uses his years of experience as a financial advisor and founder of Amiti Advising and Campus Slice to help crush America’s $1.3 trillion student loan problem. Featured in the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and on CNN, his commitment to helping professionals get ahead and live a life free from debt is the common thread in all of his work. When he’s not leading the team at Student Loan Genius, Tony is spending time with his 3-year old daughter. He can also be found guest lecturing at the University of Texas and Concordia University on entrepreneurship and personal finance, serving as Chairman of Concordia University’s Emerging Leaders Advisory Board, or mentoring fellow social entrepreneurs and startups. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Helps employers navigate the evolving retirement benefits landscape through weekly engaging interviews with industry leaders, subject matter experts and progressive employers with unique viewpoints. The diverse in-depth perspectives and relevant topics help employers make more informed decisions about their retirement benefit programs which will positively impact their employees and business.  For more information please visit <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.401kfridays.com/podcasts</a>.

Student Loan Debt: Perspectives on the Challenges & Solutions

Today we have a little fun, I am excited to welcome back J.D. Carlson who by day is the President &amp; CEO of Plan Design Consultants, a Third Party Administration firm and by night is a YouTube sensation as one fourth of the Retireholiks. Our conversation is a follow-up to one we had on the podcast last year where we tackled some tricky workplace retirement terms to either decipher some industry jargon, declare they are pure Gibberish or if they are real terms or concepts that can be confused or jumbled together. I think the conversation we have falls into the edutainment category. Oh, and two things not to miss this week, our bonus question which you can find a 401kfridays.com/jgj2019 and when JD gets fired up towards the end of the episode. While you don’t have to listen to the first version of Jargon, Gibberish or Jumbled, you can find it by scrolling through your favorite podcast app and look for the title Frustrated Complex 401(k) Terms in March of 2018. While you are there, we do have over 175 episodes in our podcast library. If you find something else that catches your eye, give it a listen as well. Our episodes are evergreen and don’t tend to expire over time. Guest Bio We're Plan Design Consultants, Inc. a retirement company that since 1975 has been providing businesses with affordable, quality plans customized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Over four decades in the business has given PDC the experiences we need to evolve our service model to what it is today.  A smart, easy process centered on the needs of our clients.  A service model designed to be AWESOME! It is our deep understanding of all areas of retirement plans combined with a constant commitment to customer service that sets us apart.  We share our expertise with our clients to make sure they are comfortable and confident in making decisions around maintaining a successful Employer sponsored plan. As an independent company, client advocacy is a major strength of our firm.  We partner with Financial Advisors to offer our clients a very healthy choice in vendors.  A strong understanding of fees and services allows PDC to help clients find the perfect fit. Thousands of retirement plan clients from all over the country have relied on PDC to assist them in offering the right plan to help their employees reach retirement goals.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Today we have a little fun, I am excited to welcome back J.D. Carlson who by day is the President &amp; CEO of Plan Design Consultants, a Third Party Administration firm and by night is a YouTube sensation as one fourth of the Retireholiks. Our conversation is a follow-up to one we had on the podcast last year where we tackled some tricky workplace retirement terms to either decipher some industry jargon, declare they are pure Gibberish or if they are real terms or concepts that can be confused or jumbled together. I think the conversation we have falls into the edutainment category. Oh, and two things not to miss this week, our bonus question which you can find a <a href="http://401kfridays.com/jgj2019" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kfridays.com/jgj2019</a> and when JD gets fired up towards the end of the episode. While you don’t have to listen to the first version of Jargon, Gibberish or Jumbled, you can find it by scrolling through your favorite podcast app and look for the title Frustrated Complex 401(k) Terms in March of 2018. While you are there, we do have over 175 episodes in our podcast library. If you find something else that catches your eye, give it a listen as well. Our episodes are evergreen and don’t tend to expire over time. Guest Bio We're Plan Design Consultants, Inc. a retirement company that since 1975 has been providing businesses with affordable, quality plans customized to meet the specific needs of our clients. Over four decades in the business has given PDC the experiences we need to evolve our service model to what it is today.  A smart, easy process centered on the needs of our clients.  A service model designed to be AWESOME! It is our deep understanding of all areas of retirement plans combined with a constant commitment to customer service that sets us apart.  We share our expertise with our clients to make sure they are comfortable and confident in making decisions around maintaining a successful Employer sponsored plan. As an independent company, client advocacy is a major strength of our firm.  We partner with Financial Advisors to offer our clients a very healthy choice in vendors.  A strong understanding of fees and services allows PDC to help clients find the perfect fit. Thousands of retirement plan clients from all over the country have relied on PDC to assist them in offering the right plan to help their employees reach retirement goals.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Frustrated By Complex 401(k) Terms? We'll Help You Clarify If It Is Jargon, Gibberish or Jumbled

Unfortunately, mistakes are made when running workplace retirement plans.  My guest, Marcia Wagner, the founder of The Wagner Law Group brings her over thirty years of experience working on ERISA matters to the podcast today and shares her list of the top 10 mistakes she sees retirement plan sponsors make.  For a little background, Marcia is perennially listed as one of the most influential people in the retirement industry, is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal and other publications and regular guest on FOX, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC and other news shows.  You can find out more about Marcia and this episode at 401kfridays.com/wagner.   Back to our conversation today, not surprising, her top ten list is spot on and she does an excellent job explaining the issues, how they happen and probably most importantly how to avoid and thoughts on how fix them if needed.  Along the way, we also have a little fun and share some laughs.  As far as top ten lists go this one makes my personal list top ten list!  Guest Bio MARCIA S. WAGNER has been practicing in the employee benefits field for over 30 years, founded The Wagner Law Group over 20 years ago and is the Firm’s Managing Partner.  Ms. Wagner is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University  and a graduate of Harvard Law School.  Ms. Wagner is highly regarded for her broad and deep knowledge of the law, flexibility, creativity and sound judgment.  She has been at the very forefront of legal and best practices developments in the benefits arena virtually her entire career.   Ms. Wagner’s experience in employee benefits is wide-ranging and she is recognized as an expert in a variety of employee benefits matters, including qualified and non-qualified plans, fiduciary issues, deferred compensation, and welfare benefit arrangements.  Her experience in employee benefits includes plan design, drafting and preparation, compliance, tax planning and consultation on all manner and aspect of ERISA issues.  Because of her experience and reputation, she has been retained as a legal consultant to other law firms, consulting firms, employee benefits organizations, large corporate and public plan sponsors and as an expert witness in prominent ERISA litigation matters.   As counsel to all types of plan sponsors, she has worked closely on qualified plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, IRAs, employee stock ownership plans, executive compensation arrangements and retiree medical benefits (including 401(h) accounts) regarding plan operation and maintenance, plan terminations, mergers and acquisitions, tax treatment of plan participants, use of life insurance and annuities, and derisking pension liabilities.  Ms. Wagner has also advised on the design and redesign of retirement, executive, and health and welfare plans and engages in ongoing, day-to-day counseling of plan sponsors and compliance audits.   Ms. Wagner also specializes in Title I of ERISA, and she has obtained advisory opinions, information letters and prohibited transaction exemptions.  Her broad and in-depth range of experience includes handling fiduciary matters impacting plan sponsors, investment and other fiduciary committees, investment managers and advisors, recordkeepers, broker-dealers, banks, and other financial services firms.  She advises on the avoidance and rectification of prohibited transaction issues, development of compliance programs and investment policies, and day-to-day compliance issues arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.   Ms. Wagner has worked on numerous Department of Labor, IRS and PBGC audits of plans and financial institutions that service plans, and negotiated favorable closing agreements with all agencies.   Ms. Wagner was appointed to the IRS Tax Exempt &amp; Government Entities Advisory Committee and ended her three-year term as the Chair of its Employee Plans subcommittee, and received the IRS’ Commissioner’s Award (that agency’s highest honor).  Ms. Wagner has also been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, has an “AV” peer review rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell indicating very high to preeminent legal ability and integrity and has received over 50 professional commendations and honors.  For eight years, 401k Wire listed Ms. Wagner as one of its 100 Most Influential Persons in the 401(k) industry, and she has received the Top Women of Law Award in Massachusetts and is listed among the Top 25 Attorneys in New England.  Ms. Wagner has written hundreds of articles and 15 books.  Ms. Wagner is a frequent and highly sought after lecturer, is widely quoted in business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Pension &amp; Investments, is a prolific writer and contributor to the most prestigious journals and periodicals in the benefits area, and has been a guest on FOX, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC and other televised media outlets.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Unfortunately, mistakes are made when running workplace retirement plans.  My guest, Marcia Wagner, the founder of The Wagner Law Group brings her over thirty years of experience working on ERISA matters to the podcast today and shares her list of the top 10 mistakes she sees retirement plan sponsors make.  For a little background, Marcia is perennially listed as one of the most influential people in the retirement industry, is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal and other publications and regular guest on FOX, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC and other news shows.  You can find out more about Marcia and this episode at <a href="http://401kfridays.com/wagner" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kfridays.com/wagner</a>.   Back to our conversation today, not surprising, her top ten list is spot on and she does an excellent job explaining the issues, how they happen and probably most importantly how to avoid and thoughts on how fix them if needed.  Along the way, we also have a little fun and share some laughs.  As far as top ten lists go this one makes my personal list top ten list!  Guest Bio MARCIA S. WAGNER has been practicing in the employee benefits field for over 30 years, founded The Wagner Law Group over 20 years ago and is the Firm’s Managing Partner.  Ms. Wagner is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University  and a graduate of Harvard Law School.  Ms. Wagner is highly regarded for her broad and deep knowledge of the law, flexibility, creativity and sound judgment.  She has been at the very forefront of legal and best practices developments in the benefits arena virtually her entire career. Ms. Wagner’s experience in employee benefits is wide-ranging and she is recognized as an expert in a variety of employee benefits matters, including qualified and non-qualified plans, fiduciary issues, deferred compensation, and welfare benefit arrangements.  Her experience in employee benefits includes plan design, drafting and preparation, compliance, tax planning and consultation on all manner and aspect of ERISA issues.  Because of her experience and reputation, she has been retained as a legal consultant to other law firms, consulting firms, employee benefits organizations, large corporate and public plan sponsors and as an expert witness in prominent ERISA litigation matters. As counsel to all types of plan sponsors, she has worked closely on qualified plans, 403(b) and 457 plans, IRAs, employee stock ownership plans, executive compensation arrangements and retiree medical benefits (including 401(h) accounts) regarding plan operation and maintenance, plan terminations, mergers and acquisitions, tax treatment of plan participants, use of life insurance and annuities, and derisking pension liabilities.  Ms. Wagner has also advised on the design and redesign of retirement, executive, and health and welfare plans and engages in ongoing, day-to-day counseling of plan sponsors and compliance audits. Ms. Wagner also specializes in Title I of ERISA, and she has obtained advisory opinions, information letters and prohibited transaction exemptions.  Her broad and in-depth range of experience includes handling fiduciary matters impacting plan sponsors, investment and other fiduciary committees, investment managers and advisors, recordkeepers, broker-dealers, banks, and other financial services firms.  She advises on the avoidance and rectification of prohibited transaction issues, development of compliance programs and investment policies, and day-to-day compliance issues arising under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Ms. Wagner has worked on numerous Department of Labor, IRS and PBGC audits of plans and financial institutions that service plans, and negotiated favorable closing agreements with all agencies. Ms. Wagner was appointed to the IRS Tax Exempt &amp; Government Entities Advisory Committee and ended her three-year term as the Chair of its Employee Plans subcommittee, and received the IRS’ Commissioner’s Award (that agency’s highest honor).  Ms. Wagner has also been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel, has an “AV” peer review rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell indicating very high to preeminent legal ability and integrity and has received over 50 professional commendations and honors.  For eight years, 401k Wire listed Ms. Wagner as one of its 100 Most Influential Persons in the 401(k) industry, and she has received the Top Women of Law Award in Massachusetts and is listed among the Top 25 Attorneys in New England.  Ms. Wagner has written hundreds of articles and 15 books.  Ms. Wagner is a frequent and highly sought after lecturer, is widely quoted in business publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Pension &amp; Investments, is a prolific writer and contributor to the most prestigious journals and periodicals in the benefits area, and has been a guest on FOX, CNN, Bloomberg, NBC and other televised media outlets.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Top Ten Workplace Retirement Plan Administration Mistakes: What They Are, Why They Happen & How To Fix Them!

The idea of changing workplace retirement plan recordkeepers, or going through a "conversion" in retirement plan lingo, can be a daunting and stressful proposition if you are not familiar with the process.  If it has been a little while since you changed recordkeepers or if you just never had the pleasure, my conversation today with Tom Dennis, Director and Head of Defined Contribution Implementation Services for John Hancock should be helpful.  We tackle head on some of the most common concerns and misperceptions such as the need to make a change on January 1st, how long blackout periods last, what happens to your employees’ money during a conversion and much more! We will also leave you with several strategies to help you take the mystery and stress out of the process so that your upcoming or next record keeping change can dare I say, be as close to seamless as possible! Guest Bio Tom Dennis is Director, Defined Contribution Implementation for John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS), a position he held with New York Life Retirement Plan Services, which merged with JHRPS in April 2015.  In this role, he is responsible for the oversight, guidance, and support of a team of Project Managers implementing plans onto JHRPS’s mid and large market recordkeeping platform. With 28 years in the retirement industry, Tom provides overall accountability for the successful implementation of new defined contribution qualified and non-qualified plans, and corporate action activity. Prior to joining the JHRPS, he most recently worked as Associate Managing Director of Retirement Research for LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute. Prior to LIMRA, Tom spent 11 years at Fidelity Investments leading large market Implementation and Client Service teams.  Tom received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut, and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford. Outside of work, he enjoys golf, and is the former President of the Tolland (CT) Soccer Club.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty five prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

The idea of changing workplace retirement plan recordkeepers, or going through a "conversion" in retirement plan lingo, can be a daunting and stressful proposition if you are not familiar with the process.  If it has been a little while since you changed recordkeepers or if you just never had the pleasure, my conversation today with Tom Dennis, Director and Head of Defined Contribution Implementation Services for John Hancock should be helpful.  We tackle head on some of the most common concerns and misperceptions such as the need to make a change on January 1st, how long blackout periods last, what happens to your employees’ money during a conversion and much more! We will also leave you with several strategies to help you take the mystery and stress out of the process so that your upcoming or next record keeping change can dare I say, be as close to seamless as possible! Guest Bio Tom Dennis is Director, Defined Contribution Implementation for John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS), a position he held with New York Life Retirement Plan Services, which merged with JHRPS in April 2015.  In this role, he is responsible for the oversight, guidance, and support of a team of Project Managers implementing plans onto JHRPS’s mid and large market recordkeeping platform. With 28 years in the retirement industry, Tom provides overall accountability for the successful implementation of new defined contribution qualified and non-qualified plans, and corporate action activity. Prior to joining the JHRPS, he most recently worked as Associate Managing Director of Retirement Research for LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute. Prior to LIMRA, Tom spent 11 years at Fidelity Investments leading large market Implementation and Client Service teams.  Tom received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut, and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford. Outside of work, he enjoys golf, and is the former President of the Tolland (CT) Soccer Club.  401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty five prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Changing 401(k) Recordkeepers? Strategies to Make the Process Seamless vs. Stressful!

Jason Roberts

Happy New Year and here is looking forward to another successful year on the 401(k) Fridays Podcast! We kick things off with my conversation with Jason Roberts, ERISA Attorney and the Founder &amp; CEO of the Pension Resource Institute.  As a prior and early podcast guest, the two prior episodes we did are still very relevant.  While you don’t need to listen to them prior to this conversation, they are good to check out when you have a minute.   Prior Episodes: Are You Running Your 401(k) Committee Meeting Wrong &amp; A Misunderstood Risk In Your 401(k) Plan This time we connect on what has or hasn’t changed relating to fiduciary governance since we last got together, we also delve into the three distinct buckets of fiduciary duties Jason recommends plan sponsors think about, what the Department of Labor has on their focus list, the double edge sword of fee disclosure, everyone’s favorite fiduciary topic, target date funds, and some unique insights on “proprietary” investments.  Jason also hits on a the hot topic of missing participants and a few investment policy statement tips and a few other nuggets.   Guest Bio Jason C. Roberts, Esq. is the founder and CEO of the Pension Resource Institute (PRI), a consulting firm that delivers strategic, compliance, training and technology-based solutions to financial institutions, retirement plan sponsors and asset managers. He is also a founder and shareholder at Retirement Law Group (RLG), a law firm specializing in ERISA and investment-related matters.  Prior to founding PRI and RLG, Jason was a partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Group at a leading ERISA law firm and the head of the Investment Fiduciary practice for a prominent securities industry legal defense firm.  Jason has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine. In 2015, he was selected by InvestmentNews as one of the “Top 40 Advisors and Associated Professionals under 40” in the financial planning industry.  Jason has published numerous articles focusing on ERISA and securities compliance, fiduciary best practices and is a frequent speaker at retirement plan and financial industry conferences. He is a contributing author and faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). Jason is also currently serving a two-year term as an advisor to the finance committee for the Beach Cities Health District.  Jason received his B.S.B.A. in Finance &amp; Banking from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law. He is a graduate of FINRA’s Compliance Boot Camp and has obtained the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ from the Center for Fiduciary Studies. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Happy New Year and here is looking forward to another successful year on the 401(k) Fridays Podcast! We kick things off with my conversation with Jason Roberts, ERISA Attorney and the Founder &amp; CEO of the Pension Resource Institute.  As a prior and early podcast guest, the two prior episodes we did are still very relevant.  While you don’t need to listen to them prior to this conversation, they are good to check out when you have a minute.   Prior Episodes: Are You Running Your 401(k) Committee Meeting Wrong &amp; A Misunderstood Risk In Your 401(k) Plan This time we connect on what has or hasn’t changed relating to fiduciary governance since we last got together, we also delve into the three distinct buckets of fiduciary duties Jason recommends plan sponsors think about, what the Department of Labor has on their focus list, the double edge sword of fee disclosure, everyone’s favorite fiduciary topic, target date funds, and some unique insights on “proprietary” investments.  Jason also hits on a the hot topic of missing participants and a few investment policy statement tips and a few other nuggets.   Guest Bio Jason C. Roberts, Esq. is the founder and CEO of the Pension Resource Institute (PRI), a consulting firm that delivers strategic, compliance, training and technology-based solutions to financial institutions, retirement plan sponsors and asset managers. He is also a founder and shareholder at Retirement Law Group (RLG), a law firm specializing in ERISA and investment-related matters. Prior to founding PRI and RLG, Jason was a partner and co-chair of the Financial Services Group at a leading ERISA law firm and the head of the Investment Fiduciary practice for a prominent securities industry legal defense firm. Jason has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine. In 2015, he was selected by InvestmentNews as one of the “Top 40 Advisors and Associated Professionals under 40” in the financial planning industry. Jason has published numerous articles focusing on ERISA and securities compliance, fiduciary best practices and is a frequent speaker at retirement plan and financial industry conferences. He is a contributing author and faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). Jason is also currently serving a two-year term as an advisor to the finance committee for the Beach Cities Health District. Jason received his B.S.B.A. in Finance &amp; Banking from the University of Missouri and his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law. He is a graduate of FINRA’s Compliance Boot Camp and has obtained the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ from the Center for Fiduciary Studies. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Contemporary 401(k) Fiduciary Fundamentals: Jason Roberts

Welcome back to new episodes of the 401(k) Fridays Podcast! After taking a little hiatus in July I am really excited about what we have in store for the remained of the year.  Also, during our little break I updated the podcast intro, if you skipped it go back and give it a quick listen.  We also updated the website, thank you Jonah and Annie at Puddlecreative. Go to 401kfridays.com and check that out, and while you are there don’t forget to subscribe to our email list.  All done with housekeeping, now onto the episode at hand.     Its always fun to welcome back a returning guest.  Jeff Bograd was one of my favorite guests from last year, if you haven’t listened to his episode scroll down on your podcast app and look for Retirement Plan Design The Next Frontier it is a good one.  Today, we tackle some thoughts for employers as they plan for 2019.  Recent tax reform brought about a few changes to 401(k) plans that everyone should be aware of.  Also, we hit on a few plan design options to think about as you consider changes to your plan for next year.  And, since wellness is such a popular topic we hit on a few ideas to dip your tow in the water on financial wellness with simple enhancements to your retirement plan.   Guest Bio Jeff Bograd is the Vice President, Senior Retirement Plan Consultant for John Hancock Retirement Plan Services and has been with the company for more than 28 years. In this role, Jeff serves as a technical resource to John Hancock’s client service and sales teams, plan sponsors and financial advisors on complex compliance matters and optimal plan design. He provides ERISA and fiduciary training classes to John Hancock employees, plan sponsors and financial advisors and speaks at industry conferences on legislative and regulatory matters and achieving financial independence through plan design. Prior to his current role, Jeff managed the ERISA Consulting Group, served as an ERISA Consultant and managed the ERISA Compliance Department, responsible for all compliance testing, Forms 5500, and IRS and DOL plan audits. Jeff received a B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from Middlebury College. In addition, he is a Registered Representative and maintains his FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations. Outside of work, Jeff enjoys reading about behavioral economics and personal finance, and playing and coaching lacrosse. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Welcome back to new episodes of the 401(k) Fridays Podcast! After taking a little hiatus in July I am really excited about what we have in store for the remained of the year.  Also, during our little break I updated the podcast intro, if you skipped it go back and give it a quick listen.  We also updated the website, thank you Jonah and Annie at Puddlecreative. Go to <a href="http://401kfridays.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">401kfridays.com</a> and check that out, and while you are there don’t forget to subscribe to our email list.  All done with housekeeping, now onto the episode at hand.   Its always fun to welcome back a returning guest.  Jeff Bograd was one of my favorite guests from last year, if you haven’t listened to his episode scroll down on your podcast app and look for Retirement Plan Design The Next Frontier it is a good one.  Today, we tackle some thoughts for employers as they plan for 2019.  Recent tax reform brought about a few changes to 401(k) plans that everyone should be aware of.  Also, we hit on a few plan design options to think about as you consider changes to your plan for next year.  And, since wellness is such a popular topic we hit on a few ideas to dip your tow in the water on financial wellness with simple enhancements to your retirement plan.   Guest Bio Jeff Bograd is the Vice President, Senior Retirement Plan Consultant for John Hancock Retirement Plan Services and has been with the company for more than 28 years. In this role, Jeff serves as a technical resource to John Hancock’s client service and sales teams, plan sponsors and financial advisors on complex compliance matters and optimal plan design. He provides ERISA and fiduciary training classes to John Hancock employees, plan sponsors and financial advisors and speaks at industry conferences on legislative and regulatory matters and achieving financial independence through plan design. Prior to his current role, Jeff managed the ERISA Consulting Group, served as an ERISA Consultant and managed the ERISA Compliance Department, responsible for all compliance testing, Forms 5500, and IRS and DOL plan audits. Jeff received a B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from Middlebury College. In addition, he is a Registered Representative and maintains his FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations. Outside of work, Jeff enjoys reading about behavioral economics and personal finance, and playing and coaching lacrosse. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

401(k) Ch-Ch-Changes in 2019: What to Know about Recent Tax Reform, Plan Design, and Financial Wellness

Sometimes employers will comment, we don’t hear to much about the 401(k) from our employees, well that’s not because your employees don’t have questions, it’s likely because they are going elsewhere to get their answers!  To help uncover what 401(k) participants are doing outside the watchful eyes of their employers, is my guest Catherine Golladay, the Senior Vice President of Participant Services and Administration at Charles Schwab. During our conversation, we explore how 401(k) participants are engaging with call centers, onsite education teams and advice offerings.  Catherine does a great job pulling from her experience to share specific stories and examples for employers to help leverage what she has learned with her participant services teams. Finally, be sure to listen for her perspectives on the importance of merging plan design, technology and people as the key ingredients to improve plan health and participant retirement outcomes. Guest Bio Catherine Golladay is senior vice president of participant services and administration and has been with Charles Schwab since 1996. Ms. Golladay is responsible for plan administration, participant service centers and support teams, third party advice services, and education presenters within Schwab Retirement Plan Services. Previously, Ms. Golladay was vice president of participant programs in Charles Schwab’s Corporate &amp; Retirement Services business, where she was responsible for overseeing third party advice and education teams. Ms. Golladay has been serving retirement plan clients since 1990 and has held management positions in compliance, client services, communication consulting, and participant service centers. Prior to joining Charles Schwab, Ms. Golladay was vice president of ERISA compliance at Key Bank. Before that she served as a Certified Public Accountant at S.R. Snodgrass and Co., LPA. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a qualified 401(k) administrator (QKA). She also holds FINRA Series 7, 9/10, 24, 63, and 66 registrations. Ms. Golladay earned a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Akron. She also has a master of business administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Sometimes employers will comment, we don’t hear to much about the 401(k) from our employees, well that’s not because your employees don’t have questions, it’s likely because they are going elsewhere to get their answers!  To help uncover what 401(k) participants are doing outside the watchful eyes of their employers, is my guest Catherine Golladay, the Senior Vice President of Participant Services and Administration at Charles Schwab. During our conversation, we explore how 401(k) participants are engaging with call centers, onsite education teams and advice offerings.  Catherine does a great job pulling from her experience to share specific stories and examples for employers to help leverage what she has learned with her participant services teams. Finally, be sure to listen for her perspectives on the importance of merging plan design, technology and people as the key ingredients to improve plan health and participant retirement outcomes. Guest Bio Catherine Golladay is senior vice president of participant services and administration and has been with Charles Schwab since 1996. Ms. Golladay is responsible for plan administration, participant service centers and support teams, third party advice services, and education presenters within Schwab Retirement Plan Services. Previously, Ms. Golladay was vice president of participant programs in Charles Schwab’s Corporate &amp; Retirement Services business, where she was responsible for overseeing third party advice and education teams. Ms. Golladay has been serving retirement plan clients since 1990 and has held management positions in compliance, client services, communication consulting, and participant service centers. Prior to joining Charles Schwab, Ms. Golladay was vice president of ERISA compliance at Key Bank. Before that she served as a Certified Public Accountant at S.R. Snodgrass and Co., LPA. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a qualified 401(k) administrator (QKA). She also holds FINRA Series 7, 9/10, 24, 63, and 66 registrations. Ms. Golladay earned a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Akron. She also has a master of business administration from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your workplace retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over eighty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Learning From 401(k) Participants' Questions & Actions

Episode Summary If you feel like you are spending the “right amount of money” in your retirement plan but not getting the results you expect in either recruiting, retention or employee retirement outcomes, spending more money to get better results doesn’t have to be the answer.  According to my guest, Marc Howell without increasing costs, you could improve all three of those metrics by breaking away from a traditional retirement plan design and moving towards plan design customization. Marc is a Vice President and head of Custom Retirement Solutions with Prudential Financial.  In our conversation he tackles preconceived notions about 401(k) plan design, how employers can deliver retirement benefits with surgical precision to either incentivize or reward employee behavior and how some popular employer contribution strategies are actually setting your employees up for failure in preparing for retirement.  If you have not already subscribed to the podcast, go to iTunes or GooglePlay and search 401(k) Fridays and click subscribe.  And now, enjoy conversation! Guest Bio Marc Howell, FSA, EA, Vice President – Custom Retirement Solutions at Prudential Financial, has over 17 years of experience working with sponsors of defined benefit and defined contribution plans. He leads a team of actuarial consultants tasked with providing custom design solutions within the defined contribution market, aiming to deliver better benefits for employees while driving improved bottom line results for employers.  He has redesigned retirement programs for numerous plan sponsors including both union and non-union workforces. Marc has partnered with these organizations to create new pension, executive, and defined contribution plans. His retirement programs are in place with organizations across the U.S., ranging from manufacturing, healthcare, utilities, higher education, and professional services organizations.  Marc’s innovative approach to plan redesign won his clients 1st place in the PSCA Signature Awards, for both 2013 and 2015, in the following categories: 2013 – Plan Administrative and Design Changes and 2015 -  Fiduciary and Plan Decision Resources Marc was a Joseph Wharton Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, where he graduated with a B.S. in economics. He is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an enrolled actuary. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Offers companies of all sizes free strategic, educational and actionable content to improve  their retirement plans.  My name is Rick Unser and I am your host.  All episodes leverage my nearly two decades of experience working with employers to bring you candid interviews with industry experts to enhance Fiduciary Protection, streamline Plan Operations and improve employee Retirement Readiness.   For more information please visit www.401kfridays.com

Episode Summary If you feel like you are spending the “right amount of money” in your retirement plan but not getting the results you expect in either recruiting, retention or employee retirement outcomes, spending more money to get better results doesn’t have to be the answer.  According to my guest, Marc Howell without increasing costs, you could improve all three of those metrics by breaking away from a traditional retirement plan design and moving towards plan design customization. Marc is a Vice President and head of Custom Retirement Solutions with Prudential Financial.  In our conversation he tackles preconceived notions about 401(k) plan design, how employers can deliver retirement benefits with surgical precision to either incentivize or reward employee behavior and how some popular employer contribution strategies are actually setting your employees up for failure in preparing for retirement.  If you have not already subscribed to the podcast, go to iTunes or GooglePlay and search 401(k) Fridays and click subscribe.  And now, enjoy conversation! Guest Bio Marc Howell, FSA, EA, Vice President – Custom Retirement Solutions at Prudential Financial, has over 17 years of experience working with sponsors of defined benefit and defined contribution plans. He leads a team of actuarial consultants tasked with providing custom design solutions within the defined contribution market, aiming to deliver better benefits for employees while driving improved bottom line results for employers.  He has redesigned retirement programs for numerous plan sponsors including both union and non-union workforces. Marc has partnered with these organizations to create new pension, executive, and defined contribution plans. His retirement programs are in place with organizations across the U.S., ranging from manufacturing, healthcare, utilities, higher education, and professional services organizations.  Marc’s innovative approach to plan redesign won his clients 1st place in the PSCA Signature Awards, for both 2013 and 2015, in the following categories: 2013 – Plan Administrative and Design Changes and 2015 -  Fiduciary and Plan Decision Resources Marc was a Joseph Wharton Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, where he graduated with a B.S. in economics. He is a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and an enrolled actuary. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Offers companies of all sizes free strategic, educational and actionable content to improve  their retirement plans.  My name is Rick Unser and I am your host.  All episodes leverage my nearly two decades of experience working with employers to bring you candid interviews with industry experts to enhance Fiduciary Protection, streamline Plan Operations and improve employee Retirement Readiness.   For more information please visit <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/#!blank-1/db3mp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.401kfridays.com</a>

401(k) Plan Design Made to Fit

This is our second episode where we tackle the ins and outs of retirement plan discrimination and compliance testing.  The first episode we released a few weeks ago hit on some of the core concepts around discrimination testing and laid five strategies to improve your results.  Today, we pick up where we left off with the last episode and address some more complex concepts around discrimination testing.   Thankfully, I have Chad Johnson, a fellow admitted 401(k) nerd, and Third Party Administrator with Plan Design Consultants to help us out.  Over the years I have had numerous conversations with retirement service providers of all shapes and sizes on M&amp;A, Control Groups, Grace Periods and Discrimination testing.   In my humble opinion, I think Chad provided one of the better explanations of all this that I have heard!    Let me know if you agree, disagree or if we missed something you have questions about, shoot us an email at info@401kfridays.com.     Guest Bio Chad Johansen is a self-proclaimed retirement-plan-aholoic. As a frequent speaker at the 401(k) Academy, Retireholi(k)s and other national venues, Chad is passionate about helping advisors and plan sponsors understand the intricacies of the 401(k) market place. Chad takes great pride in translating complicated retirement into 401(k) EasySpeak with the goal of creating educated and confident decisions. ​ Chad joined Plan Design Consultants, Inc. in March 2010. As an Internal Retirement Plan Consultant, Chad was assigned to advisor support throughout Northern California. Chad was also responsible for producing the PDC comprehensive retirement plan comparative analysis and aided in vendor research, product knowledge and PDC marketing efforts. In January 2011, Chad made the transition as our External Retirement Plan Consultant covering the California territory.  In 2014 Chad joined in ownership of the firm and was promoted to Sales Director now acting as a player/coach to the PDC Sales Team. ​Chad also sits on the Board of Directors for The Kyle MacFarlane Foundation. In partnership with legendary bike builder Arlen Ness, Stanford Medical and Victory Motorcycles the foundation is teaming up to build a “Hands on Nutrition”  motorcycle to raise awareness to the many stomach conditions plaguing Americans. Chad earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. While attending WWU on a baseball scholarship Chad excelled in both business and finance. He was honored as Business Student of the Year and graduated summa cum laude.  Chad and his wife Brooke live in San Jose, California and recently welcomed their second child. They enjoy being outdoors, golfing and skiing/snowboarding.   401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

This is our second episode where we tackle the ins and outs of retirement plan discrimination and compliance testing.  The <a>first episode</a> we released a few weeks ago hit on some of the core concepts around discrimination testing and laid five strategies to improve your results.  Today, we pick up where we left off with the last episode and address some more complex concepts around discrimination testing.   Thankfully, I have Chad Johnson, a fellow admitted 401(k) nerd, and Third Party Administrator with Plan Design Consultants to help us out.  Over the years I have had numerous conversations with retirement service providers of all shapes and sizes on M&amp;A, Control Groups, Grace Periods and Discrimination testing.   In my humble opinion, I think Chad provided one of the better explanations of all this that I have heard!  Let me know if you agree, disagree or if we missed something you have questions about, shoot us an email at <a>info@401kfridays.com</a>.   Guest Bio Chad Johansen is a self-proclaimed retirement-plan-aholoic. As a frequent speaker at the 401(k) Academy, Retireholi(k)s and other national venues, Chad is passionate about helping advisors and plan sponsors understand the intricacies of the 401(k) market place. Chad takes great pride in translating complicated retirement into 401(k) EasySpeak with the goal of creating educated and confident decisions. ​ Chad joined Plan Design Consultants, Inc. in March 2010. As an Internal Retirement Plan Consultant, Chad was assigned to advisor support throughout Northern California. Chad was also responsible for producing the PDC comprehensive retirement plan comparative analysis and aided in vendor research, product knowledge and PDC marketing efforts. In January 2011, Chad made the transition as our External Retirement Plan Consultant covering the California territory.  In 2014 Chad joined in ownership of the firm and was promoted to Sales Director now acting as a player/coach to the PDC Sales Team. ​Chad also sits on the Board of Directors for The Kyle MacFarlane Foundation. In partnership with legendary bike builder Arlen Ness, Stanford Medical and Victory Motorcycles the foundation is teaming up to build a “Hands on Nutrition”  motorcycle to raise awareness to the many stomach conditions plaguing Americans. Chad earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. While attending WWU on a baseball scholarship Chad excelled in both business and finance. He was honored as Business Student of the Year and graduated summa cum laude.  Chad and his wife Brooke live in San Jose, California and recently welcomed their second child. They enjoy being outdoors, golfing and skiing/snowboarding. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over fifty prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

401(k) M&A, Grace Periods, Controlled Groups & Discrimination Testing

Do the largest 0.1% of workplace retirement plans in the country or the “Mega Plans” do things the same as the other 99.9% of plans? As you will hear from my guest, Charlie Nelson, CEO of Retirement &amp; Employee Benefits of VOYA Financial, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I had a few technical issues and distractions on my end to deal with right before we got started but once we got going this is a fast paced conversation where we hit on some topics things you might expect us to talk about when it comes to what mega retirement plans trends, but we also delve into on a few important topics you might not be thinking about like helping employees figure out what the next best financial decision for them is, whether the prevalence of 401(k) lawsuits in large plans influence their decision making and how some trends in the large market are actually influenced by the small market.   Guest Bio Charles Nelson is chief executive officer of Retirement and Employee Benefits for Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. In his role, Nelson oversees Tax-Exempt and Corporate Markets and Retail Wealth Management, which comprise the company’s workplace and individual retirement businesses, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, as well as its Employee Benefits business. Prior to joining the company, Nelson served as president of Retirement Services for Great-West Financial through September 2014 and most recently led the legacy Great-West retirement business of Empower Retirement, a business unit of Great-West Life &amp; Annuity Insurance Company. Nelson has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the retirement and employee benefits industry. He was named the second most influential player in the 401(k) market, according to the 401(k) Wire’s 2012 Most Influential ranking list. During his career, Nelson has managed all aspects of defined contribution businesses. He has overseen government, healthcare, nonprofit, 401(k) and FASCore institutional lines of business, while also managing recordkeeping, administration, operations, sales, products, financial results and broker-dealer services. Nelson began his career at Great-West in the employee benefits business marketing retirement plans, healthcare, stop loss and various benefit offerings. Nelson is a graduate of Whitman College with a degree in chemistry and economics, and he was a member of the Whitman College Board of Overseers from 2008 to 2017. Nelson served as the past president of the board of directors for The SPARK Institute, a trade institute that represents the entire spectrum of defined contribution service providers. He has also been a member of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) since 1985. As a member, Nelson has contributed articles for publication, participated on a number of committees, and spoken at numerous regional and national conferences to support and assist the organization’s efforts to further the industry. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Do the largest 0.1% of workplace retirement plans in the country or the “Mega Plans” do things the same as the other 99.9% of plans? As you will hear from my guest, Charlie Nelson, CEO of Retirement &amp; Employee Benefits of VOYA Financial, sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I had a few technical issues and distractions on my end to deal with right before we got started but once we got going this is a fast paced conversation where we hit on some topics things you might expect us to talk about when it comes to what mega retirement plans trends, but we also delve into on a few important topics you might not be thinking about like helping employees figure out what the next best financial decision for them is, whether the prevalence of 401(k) lawsuits in large plans influence their decision making and how some trends in the large market are actually influenced by the small market.   Guest Bio Charles Nelson is chief executive officer of Retirement and Employee Benefits for Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), which helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. In his role, Nelson oversees Tax-Exempt and Corporate Markets and Retail Wealth Management, which comprise the company’s workplace and individual retirement businesses, including 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans, as well as its Employee Benefits business. Prior to joining the company, Nelson served as president of Retirement Services for Great-West Financial through September 2014 and most recently led the legacy Great-West retirement business of Empower Retirement, a business unit of Great-West Life &amp; Annuity Insurance Company. Nelson has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the retirement and employee benefits industry. He was named the second most influential player in the 401(k) market, according to the 401(k) Wire’s 2012 Most Influential ranking list. During his career, Nelson has managed all aspects of defined contribution businesses. He has overseen government, healthcare, nonprofit, 401(k) and FASCore institutional lines of business, while also managing recordkeeping, administration, operations, sales, products, financial results and broker-dealer services. Nelson began his career at Great-West in the employee benefits business marketing retirement plans, healthcare, stop loss and various benefit offerings. Nelson is a graduate of Whitman College with a degree in chemistry and economics, and he was a member of the Whitman College Board of Overseers from 2008 to 2017. Nelson served as the past president of the board of directors for The SPARK Institute, a trade institute that represents the entire spectrum of defined contribution service providers. He has also been a member of the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) since 1985. As a member, Nelson has contributed articles for publication, participated on a number of committees, and spoken at numerous regional and national conferences to support and assist the organization’s efforts to further the industry. 401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over one hundred prior on-demand audio interviews <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/podcasts" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Don't forget to <a href="http://www.401kfridays.com/subscribe" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">subscribe</a> as we release a new episode each Friday!

Workplace Retirement Plan Mega Trends

What is this?
1 quote, 3 ideas & 1 question from a carefully curated podcast episode.
Every Monday & Wednesday.

Want a 3rd insight and episode every week? Email me at curation@owltail.com.

OwlTail

OwlTail 1-3-1

The best self improvement podcast episodes. From improving productivity, to finding purpose in your life to what constitutes freedom, this topic is on anything and everything that can help people to improve their lives. Add episodes you're interested into your queue below!