Products March 29, 2011

MassMutual Expands Participant Ed. Services

MassMutual's Retirement Services Division has introduced RetireSmart Ready; a tool to help participants calculate and implement saving rates and asset allocation strategies.
Reported by

The tool can be personalized for an individual’s goals and preferences, and is being made available to all participants on the MassMutual retirement services platform. The company says helping participants select better savings rates and asset allocation strategies may increase their chances of achieving enough income in retirement. 

The RetireSmart Ready tool is expanding the RetireSmart participant education platform that MassMutual introduced last month (see “MassMutual Retirement Launches Participant Education Solution“).  

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

And on the plan level, MassMutual also announced that it plans to introduce the PlanSmart Analysis report this summer. PlanSmart will be a plan-level solution that in addition to standard activity-based metrics like deferral and participation rates and asset allocation, will also assesses the percentage of employees who are on track to replace a specified level of income in retirement. 

Compliance March 29, 2011

Claim Against Consultant Allowed to Proceed

The trustees of a Nevada supply company’s 401(k) plan can proceed with their suit accusing a plan consultant of a fiduciary breach by convincing the plan to invest in questionable funds.
Reported by

U.S. District Judge Edward C. Reed of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada said the plan trustees “narrowly survived” the plan consultant’s motion to dismiss because there were very few indications that the consultant was indeed serving as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

However, Reed did throw out the trustees’ claim that the consultant, Barry Downs, violated ERISA by failing to provide the trustees with plan documents. The court said that only plan administrators are liable under ERISA for failing to disclose plan documents. Western Nevada Supply Co.’s profit-sharing and 401(k) plans brought a lawsuit in 2009 against investment managers for their advice to put money in particular investment options.

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The court found there were sufficient allegations that Downs was a plan fiduciary through his capacity as a paid consultant to the plans. The case is Western Nevada Supply Co. Profit-Sharing Plan and Trust v. Aneesard Mgmt., D. Nev., No. 3:09-cv-00737-ECR-VPC.

«