Products October 5, 2010

ASPPA and CEFEX Enhance Certification Program

The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) and the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) have announced changes to their service provider certification program.
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The certification program will now be called “The ASPPA Retirement Plan Service Provider Certification” instead of the “ASPPA Recordkeeper Certification” to accurately reflect the scope of retirement plan administration within the certification program, according to the announcement.  

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Other changes include a revision to the assessment process to distinguish best practice criteria that applies only to recordkeeping firms from criteria which applies to all firms. CEFEX and ASPPA are also working to update the certification methodology to conform with recent changes to the ERISA 408(b)(2) regulation effective in July 2011—including metrics on how to verify a provider adheres to the new fee disclosure regulations.  

ASPPA and CEFEX will add three experts to the analyst team: 

  • Richard Carpenter,  President and Founder, USVI Pensions and Consulting; 
  • Chris L. Stroud,  President of Simoneaux & Stroud Consulting Services; and 
  • Laura S. Moskwa, of Laura S. Moskwa Consulting. 

 

“Each have an average of 30 years experience in the recordkeeping and administration industry and have already provided invaluable guidance to the program to date. They will now be directly engaged in providing assessment services as analysts,” said Carlos Panksep, General Manager, CEFEX, in the announcement. 

Deals & People October 5, 2010

Nationwide Hires New VP of Retirement Plan Sales

Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. announced that Tony Daniel will serve as regional vice president of sales for its private sector retirement plans business in Iowa/Nebraska.
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Daniel will be responsible for leading Nationwide’s sales efforts in the Iowa/Nebraska territory.

According to the announcement, Daniel joins Nationwide from The Orizon Group, LLC in Omaha, Nebraska, where he served as a wealth adviser and pension specialist with responsibility for overseeing a large block of retirement plans. Prior to joining Orizon, he was a qualified plan consultant at CLS Investment Firm, LLC, where he marketed managed account services to retirement plans and worked as a member of their wholesaling team.  

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Daniel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

“Tony’s experience as a financial adviser who sold Nationwide retirement plan products will bring a valuable perspective to our sales team and will help us better serve our adviser clients,” said John Carter, president of Nationwide Financial Distributors, Inc., in the announcement.

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