FIA Lands USI Consulting Group Exec

Fiduciary Investment Advisors, LLC says that Christopher Rowlins has joined the Windsor, Connecticut-based firm as a consultant.

Rowlins has more than a decade of experience providing investment advisory services to retirement plans, serving corporations, municipalities and foundations, according to a press release.Rowlins was most recently President of the Investment Advisory practice at USI Consulting Group in Glastonbury, Connecticut.     

He was recognized as one of the most successful retirement plan advisers by PLANSPONSOR in 2007, and his background also includes time as Senior Investment Consultant with MassMutual Financial Services.      

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Fiduciary Investment Advisors, PLANSPONSOR’s Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year in 2009, is an independent employee-owned investment consulting firm that works with fiduciary clients including retirement plan sponsors, non-profit organizations, and wealthy families. Total assets under advisement total more than $10 billion.     


For more information about Fiduciary Investment Advisors, visit www.fiallc.com.

Bankruptcy Doesn’t Relieve Plan of ERISA Mandates

A Department of Labor (DoL) administrative law judge has rejected the appeal by a 401(k) plan administrator of an $86,500 civil penalty, ruling that bankruptcy did not relieve the administrator of requirements to properly file an annual report.

A news release from the agency’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) said the judge ordered the administrator of the Airport Hospitality, LTD 401(k) Plan to pay the penalty as assessed by EBSA. The administrator was charged with not properly filing a Form 5500 for the 2004 plan year because it did not include an acceptable independent qualified accountant’s opinion and an asset schedule.

The DoL judge found the plan administrator had sold its business locations without properly preserving plan records as mandated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

“Hotel workers are among the most vulnerable participants we protect,” said Ian Dingwall, chief accountant of EBSA, in the news release. “This case sends a strong message to employers that they must keep personnel and payroll documents for a sufficient time period so they can be checked for accuracy and completeness.”

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