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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: October, 2017
Oct 27, 2017

While I’ve been in the retirement plan business for over twenty years now, one thing I had never found was an easy to read book that an employer or someone new to the business could pick up and finish in one or two sittings and get their arms around where our retirement plan system has been, where it is today and some ideas on where it is headed in the future.  My guest today Bob Reynolds, the President and CEO of both Putnam Investment and Great-West Financial must have shared my frustration and taken it upon himself to fill the void!  During our conversation, we explore mostly his thoughts on how our retirement system is doing today and some recommendations for employers he highlights in his new book, From Here to Security: How Workplace Retirement Plans Can Keep America’s Promise.  As you will hear, while our system is not perfect it is a strong and healthy but needs the ongoing leadership of employers to improve retirement plan coverage within the workforce and to help employees who already have access to retirement plans advance farther down the path towards a successfully replacing their income in retirement.  I won't steal Bob's thunder, but don’t you worry, we leave you with plenty of great ideas and strategies you can bring to your next retirement plan committee meeting.  

Guest Bio

Robert L. Reynolds is President and Chief Executive Officer of both Putnam Investments and Great-West Financial, which is one of the nation’s top providers of retirement savings products and services through its Empower Retirement division. 

Long respected as an industry statesman, Mr. Reynolds has been a driving force of innovation and progress in institutional and retail financial services. Prior to joining Putnam in 2008, Mr. Reynolds was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity Investments. 

Mr. Reynolds’ accomplishments have earned multiple industry honors over time. He was named Fund Leader of the Year at the Mutual Fund Industry Awards in 2010 for the strategic improvements he initiated at Putnam. The following year, Putnam, under the leadership of Mr. Reynolds, was honored as Retirement Leader of the Year for initiatives and innovative solutions in the workplace savings arena. Mr. Reynolds has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from PLANSPONSOR magazine for popularizing employer sponsored 401(k) plans. 

Mr. Reynolds currently serves on several not-for-profit boards, including those of West Virginia University Foundation, Concord Museum, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Foundation. He is Chairman of the Boston Advisory Board of the American Ireland Fund, a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital President’s Council, and a member of the Chief Executives Club of Boston and the Council on Competitiveness. 

Mr. Reynolds earned a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance, from West Virginia University, where he also received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration and a Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition, Mr. Reynolds is a recipient of the Boston College President’s Medal of Excellence and the Manhattan College De La Salle Medal. He lives in Concord, Massachusetts. 

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!

 

Oct 20, 2017

Are workplace retirement plans vulnerable to cyber threats?  When it comes to cyber threats & workplace retirement plans, what questions should employers be asking their retirement service providers to better understand their security policies?  I address these questions and much more with Lee Harms, Business Information Security Officer for the Principal Financial Group.  

Guest Bio

Lee Harms is the Business Information Security Officer for the five businesses that make up Retirement and Income Solutions (RIS).   As a BISO he is responsible for the integration of the enterprise information security program within his business unit(s).  Key responsibilities include 3rd party oversight, secure software development, data protection, customer and regulatory requests and incident response.

Lee’s career with Principal began in 1983 and has included roles leading Enterprise Architecture, application development, Actuarial liaison and Client Administration.  Those roles include Business exposure to individual insurance and retirement business units as well as corporate Information Services.  

Lee is a member of the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC) and The Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Recordkeepers (SPARK) Data Security Advisory Board.  

Lee graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Management.   

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!

 

Oct 13, 2017

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 & 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!

Oct 6, 2017

To Roth or not to Roth, that is the question.  With the option to make Roth contributions now offered in well over 50% of workplace retirement plans by most surveys, it is great to see more acceptance of Roth but there are still a lot employers who are either not making it available, or who might offer it but don’t recognize the full scope of benefits it offers their employees. 

To help inform the conversation I was excited to have Katherine Roy, Managing Director and Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of Individual Retirement for J.P. Morgan Funds join me! We kick things off clarifying a few misperceptions about Roth, then we delve into few features of Roth that don’t get a lot of attention for both lower and higher paid employees and then we close the proverbial door with some thoughts on the "Backdoor Roth 401(k)".  And under the banner of I would rather be lucky than good, with the current push for tax reform and the talk of the “Rothification” of 401(k) plans, our timing could be better and we get some great insight from Katherine there as well. 

Guest Bio

Katherine Roy, managing director, is Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of Individual Retirement for J.P. Morgan Funds.  In this role, Katherine is responsible for delivering timely personal retirement-related insights to financial advisors.  Focused on the retirement income-related landscape for more than 10 years, Katherine specializes in identifying themes, strategies and solutions that can help advisors successfully partner with individuals in the transition and distribution life stages.

 

Katherine is consistently ranked as a top speaker at major industry and firm-specific conferences and events.  She also has been interviewed and quoted in the financial press on a variety of key retirement planning topics.

 

Prior to joining the firm, Katherine was Head of Personal Retirement Planning & Advice at Merrill Lynch where she led strategy and innovation in retirement income solutions for individuals, and the retirement planning, advice and guidance programs available to integrated benefits plan participants.  She also held several roles in financial planning product development, participant communications and consulting, and interactive client experience initiatives.  Katherine received a B.A. from Yale University and is a Certified Financial Planner®.

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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