Data & Research May 20, 2013

Small Plans Early Adopters of In-Plan Guarantees

Defined contribution (DC) in-plan guarantee assets totaled $2.2 billion as of December 2012, according to a new LIMRA survey.
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Early adoption of in-plan guarantees has occurred most often on small retirement plans (assets less than $10 million), the research shows. Some 20,300 small plans offer in-plan guarantees. Twenty-two percent of these plans have at least one person covered by a guarantee.

More than 1,200 mid-size plans (plan assets $10 million to $200 million) offer in-plan guarantees with nearly three quarters (72%) having at least one participant covered by a guarantee. The study found that less than 100 large plans (plan assets $200 million and above) currently offer in-plan guarantees but all of these plans have at least one participant covered by a guarantee.

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“We have recently starting tracking sales of these products,” said Alison Salka, corporate vice president, LIMRA Retirement Research. “While the current market is small and primarily driven by small-plan adoption, the potential is tremendous as there are more than $5.1 trillion in DC assets in the United States.”

Salka added, “We anticipate that more sponsors of larger plans will begin to offer these products to their participants. Many employees look to create a guaranteed income stream from their accumulated assets. The industry has been working to address the issues like portability that have been a concern to sponsors.”

In-plan guarantees provide retirement plan participants an opportunity, while they are still working, to use some of their plan assets to provide future guaranteed lifetime retirement income. Currently two types of in-plan guarantees are sold, the guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) and the deferred income annuity (DIA).

LIMRA found that 1.8 million participants currently have access to in-plan guarantees in their DC plans. LIMRA’s survey of consumers found that a more than a third of Americans with DC plans would be interested in purchasing an in-plan guarantee product.

“Given the limited understanding of these products by both employers and employees, it is likely that Americans will increasingly be attracted to in-plan guarantees as their access and understanding grow,” noted Salka.

LIMRA surveyed six providers, representing about 90% of the market, to determine aggregated sales on all recordkeeping platforms by plan size. Data were collected on the number of plans, number of participants, and amount of assets in plans that offer in-plan guarantees.

Deals & People May 20, 2013

Former Senator Picked to Head SIFMA

Judd A. Gregg, a former three-term senator, was appointed chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).
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During a media call Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., who was named president of the association, told PLANADVISER that a uniform fiduciary standard of care, which “SIFMA has long been in favor of,” will be SIFMA’s new CEO’s first priority, and “the No. 1 place we are doing a lot of work.”

Another one of Gregg’s projects will be helping mend the image of Wall Street. “Too big to fail” must end, Gregg said. “At the center of this financial system is the membership of SIFMA. Our members provide the resources and expertise that make the economic engine of America work and create a more prosperous life for Americans,” Gregg said, describing Wall Street as a “huge positive force” for creating jobs.

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Calling the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “a primary and critical regulator, and an extremely effective regulator,” Gregg said the commission’s work on initiatives from the Dodd-Frank Act require mulling before rulemaking can take place. “They are very philosophical and academic ideas, very difficult,” Gregg said about the Dodd-Frank reforms. “Organizations like the SEC have been reasonably deliberate. We don’t want to rush into regulatory ideas,” Gregg said.

Gregg was the ranking Republican member on the Appropriations; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committees. Before joining the Senate, he served two terms as governor of New Hampshire and four terms as a member of the House of Representatives. Gregg currently serves as a co-chair of the bipartisan Campaign to Fix the Debt, and he served on the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.

“Judd’s experience as both a governor and legislator will be of tremendous value to SIFMA in bridging the gap between the complexities of the financial markets and the positive impact our markets have on every community across America,” said Chet Helck, SIFMA chair and CEO of the Global Private Client Group at Raymond James Financial. 

Bentsen has served as a leading industry voice  and as executive vice president of public policy and advocacy since 2009, overseeing SIFMA’s legal, legislative and regulatory affairs.  Before joining SIFMA, Bentsen was president of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.  From 1995 to 2003, he served as a member of the House of Representatives from Texas, where he sat on the House Financial Services Committee (and its predecessor House Banking and Financial Services Committee), and separately on the House Budget Committee. Before his service in Congress, Bentsen was an investment banker at a Wall Street firm and a large regional firm, where he specialized in municipal and mortgage finance.

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