Products March 20, 2014

Alliance Benefit Group Launches 401(k) Choice Platform

Alliance Benefit Group (ABG), a network of 14 regional consulting and financial services firms, launched the 401(k) Choice platform for broker/dealers and financial advisers working with retirement plans.
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The platform is designed to offer a comprehensive solution for broker/dealers and advisers who want a single point of contact for managing their retirement plan-related services, the firm says. The product features the Matrix Financial Solutions back-office trade processing and custodial solution, provided by Broadridge Financial Solutions. The formal launch will occur March 23.

The platform also integrates outsourced fiduciary support features, advanced plan design options and a variety of investment analytics and management tools. Advisers and broker/dealers joining the platform gain access to support from ABG’s sales personnel, as well as support on recordkeeping and administrative functions.

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Don Mackanos, ABG’s president, says the platform brings access to more than 25,000 fund options and allows for local sales support and plan sponsor servicing in virtually any market.

“We believe we’ve made 401(k) Choice as simple for advisers to use as the various bundled products out there,” Mackanos says, adding that the addition of Broadridge’s Matrix custody solution should allow financial professionals working in nearly all broker/dealer models to adopt the open architecture platform.

John Moody, president of the Matrix organization under Broadridge, says the firms expect the platform to compete strongly in the open-architecture space.

More information is available at www.abgnational.com.

Products March 20, 2014

Database Helps Higher Ed. Plan Sponsors Benchmark Plans

PlanPilot, a retirement plan services consulting firm, is offering a new plan design database that supports higher education retirement plans.
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Higher education plan sponsors have found it difficult to review their current retirement plan design and determine how it compares to the plan features contained in the plans of their peers, according to research by PlanPilot. Although there is readily available data for 401(k) plans, information specific to higher learning institutions has not been as easy to locate. To address this issue, PlanPilot has created a proprietary database of the plan designs for more than 250 higher education institutions spread across 40 states, which includes a variety of recordkeepers.

This database has been developed to help plan sponsors better understand how their plans compare against similar institutions. More specifically, this database contains information on elements of plan design such as:

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  • Plan eligibility (both for age and term of service);
  • Eligibility waivers for individuals who have previously worked at another higher education institution;
  • Employer contribution formulas and levels of contributions;
  • Prevalence of mandatory employee contributions; and
  • Vesting schedules.

“It’s a tool that allows a higher education plan sponsor to compare their plan design in a much broader way than other measures that are known to us. As this plan design database is the first of its kind, we are confident that it provides a broader base for benchmarking than anything else out there,” says Mark Olsen, senior consultant, PlanPilot in Chicago.

PlanPilot partners with clients as a fiduciary to control the business risks associated with operating plans and to help deliver the benefits intended. PlanPilot is an investment fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Section 3 (21), working in this role for any plan in which they serve as an investment adviser.

More information about accessing PlanPilot’s data is available by calling (312) 221-8790.

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