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401(k) Fridays Podcast

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!
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Now displaying: September, 2017
Sep 29, 2017

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!

Sep 22, 2017

As the most recent bull market continues to mature, some retirement plan sponsors are either exploring or being encouraged to explore ways add diversification to their workplace retirement plan investment menus.  Incorporating exposure to Real Estate or REITS, has been one of the more popular strategies to add some variety to traditional stock and bond offerings.  While the REITs are offered in 31% of plans up from 27% five years ago according to Vanguard’s How America Saves reports, personally I would not consider them widely available in workplace retirement plans.  Whether you already have a REIT offering or are considering adding one, my conversation today with Jake Aronson, a CFA and Portfolio Manager with Principal Portfolio Strategies should shed some light on this anything but straightforward topic.  Like we always do, we start with defining terms, address some common misperceptions and offer input for retirement plan fiduciaries to help frame decisions.  Hopefully, our conversation will help you get familiar with REITs to help you  determine if it is an appropriate way to add diversity to your investment menu at your next retirement committee meeting. 

Guest Bio

Jake is a Portfolio Manager for Principal Portfolio Strategies, a specialized boutique that engages in the creation of asset allocation solutions. In this role, he is responsible for conducting research, assessing risk, and making relative value recommendations relating to specific aspects of the Dynamic Outcome strategies. Jake is a member of the Investment Oversight and Risk Committee and has over 22 years of industry experience. Before joining Principal®, he was a Managing Director with Miles Capital, a boutique institutional asset manager. Prior to joining Miles Capital, Jake served in various capacities with Principal Global Investors and Principal Real Estate Investors. While at Principal®, he has worked with both retail and institutional strategies and clients. Prior to joining Principal®, Jake worked as a Credit/Business Analyst with various firms as well as a Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Jake has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and has passed the CPA exam. He has also earned the Chartered Alternative Investment 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 eighty prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Sep 15, 2017

Excited to welcome back Peter Dunn, a.k.a. Pete the Planner to the podcast!  Our conversation was definitely one of the more entertaining ones that I have had on the podcast in recent memory.  This episode was inspired by a few recent discussions I had with workplace retirement plan sponsors who were wondering why their employees couldn't just go talk to their broker/advisor/wealth manager to get help planning for their retirement.  Why did they as the employer have to get in the middle of it.  Without stealing too much of Pete's thunder, the real issue comes down the issue of access to the financial services market, much of which is determined by how much money someone has.  Great stuff with some concrete takeaways to bring with you to your next retirement plan committee meeting!

Guest Bio

Peter Dunn a.k.a. Pete the Planner® is an award-winning comedian and an award-winning financial mind. He’s a USA TODAY columnist and the author of ten books, six of which were featured in a nationwide launch at Barnes & Nobles stores in January of 2015. He is the host of the popular radio show The Pete the Planner Show on 93 WIBC FM and is a columnist for the Indy Star. Pete has appeared regularly on CNN Headline News, Fox News, Fox Business as well as numerous nationally syndicated radio programs. In 2012, Cision named Pete the fourth most influential financial broadcaster in the nation. Pete lives in Carmel, Indiana with his wife and two young children.

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!

 

Sep 8, 2017

2017 started off with the winds of change blowing through Washington DC and to date has been nothing short of interesting and unexpected with the Trump administration at the helm for over seven months. Back in January, I discussed with Bob Holcomb, the head of legal and regulatory affairs at Empower Retirement some of the anticipated changes to workplace retirement plans that seemed imminent.  In this episode, I revisit some of these topics with Sam Henson, Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs at Lockton Retirement Services to see well, what has or hasn’t actually happened!  We cover a lot of ground with topics such as tax reform and how it could affect the 401(k) industry, recent developments with state plans, why the DOL fiduciary rule is a “unique animal”.   With 2018 quickly approaching we hope this episode provides helpful insight on what to keep an eye on for the remainder of 2017 and going forward.  

Guest Bio

As a Senior Vice President and Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for Lockton Retirement Services, Sam oversees national IRS/DOL/ERISA compliance services for all clients and more than 100 associates nationwide. Sam serves as a subject matter expert on ERISA compliance, DOL/IRS activities, and the legislative landscape. Prior to joining Lockton, Sam spent almost 10 years with the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, where as a Senior Investigator, he conducted more than 100 complex civil and criminal investigations of employee benefits plans, service providers, and fiduciaries. Sam also supervised enforcement efforts for benefit plans funded by prevailing wage laws under the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act. Sam currently serves on the Policy Board of Directors for the American Benefits Council, Board of Directors for DCIIA, and the Governing Council of ISCEBS, as well as being a member of ASPPA. Sam has been a nationally featured speaker and writer on numerous fiduciary topics.

 

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!

Sep 1, 2017

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 auditing well over 100 retirements plan each year 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.

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!

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