Products February 2, 2015

Fidelity Investments Acquires eMoney Advisor

Fidelity Investments reached an agreement to acquire wealth planning software company eMoney Advisor.
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Fidelity leaders suggest clients across the firm’s operations will benefit from the implementation of eMoney tools and solutions. The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America retains a minority interest and remains one of eMoney’s largest clients under the terms of the acquisition.  

Fidelity says the move is part of its commitment to “deliver an industry leading suite of innovative and meaningful tools and technology to its customers.” Technology solutions from eMoney Advisor will transform the way financial professionals working with Fidelity deliver their expertise, the firms suggest, strengthening client relationships and helping advisers grow their businesses.

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Clients of Fidelity Institutional, the division of Fidelity Investments that provides clearing, custody and investment management products to registered investment advisers (RIAs), retirement recordkeepers and broker/dealers, will be among the first who can benefit from the affiliation with eMoney Advisor, according to Fidelity.

Fidelity’s acquisition of eMoney Advisor, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, is part of Fidelity’s larger vision to continue enhancing its digital solutions across its retail, workplace and institutional channels, notes Michael Wilens, president of Fidelity Enterprise Services.

“Fidelity is a financial services firm with technology at its core,” Wilens says. “eMoney Advisor is another important vehicle through which Fidelity can exceed client expectations and maintain its edge in a rapidly changing technology environment.”

The firms say eMoney Advisor’s leadership will remain in place, with its founder Edmond Walters continuing to serve as its chief executive officer. The firm will remain focused on serving a wide range of financial services providers under Fidelity. Under the deal, eMoney Advisor will also maintain its current offices in Pennsylvania and California.

“Our affiliation with Fidelity, and its multi-billion dollar commitment to technology, only adds to eMoney Advisor’s already aggressive growth and innovation path,” Walters says. “We have a long track record with many of Fidelity’s 10,000 advisory firm clients and hope to extend our growth among that base, while deepening and expanding our many relationships beyond the Fidelity footprint.”

More information is available at www.fidelity.com.

Compliance February 2, 2015

IRS Offers Reference Lists for Plan Qualification Requirements

The IRS recommends including reference lists when applying for a retirement plan determination letter.
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers fillable reference lists of changes in qualification requirements for retirement plans.

Reference lists are tools to help plan sponsors ensure that their plan document incorporates all relevant mandatory and optional changes in plan qualification requirements. Each reference list contains items that are new to the cumulative list for a given year.

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For determination letter applications, a plan sponsor with an individually designed plan submitted on Form 5300 would complete the five reference lists for the five years of its remedial amendment cycle (RAC). These are the years covered by the cumulative list applicable to the submission. An employer adopting a volume submitter plan and submitting on Form 5307 would complete the six reference lists for the six years in its RAC.

For interim amendments, the IRS recommends completing each year’s reference list to check whether the plan document is up-to-date. If a plan sponsor missed any relevant amendments, its plan may have a qualification failure and it must correct this error.

Although not mandatory, the IRS encourages plan sponsors to include completed reference lists with determination letter applications. This will facilitate IRS review of the plan document.

The reference lists and instructions for how to complete them can be found here.

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