Products July 9, 2012

Council Offers Adviser RFP Template

The Retirement Advisor Council released a template request for proposal (RFP) questionnaire for use by 401(k) and 403(b) plan sponsors looking to select an adviser.  
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The template, which includes 65 questions on five pages, covers all elements of service typically available from professional retirement plan advisers, including investment services, participant services, provider services, fiduciary support and compliance support.

“The adviser RFP questionnaire will assist plan sponsors in complying with recent legislative regulations centered on fee/service benchmarking; it also provides a turnkey solution saving time and resources for the plan sponsor,” said Gregg Andonian, a council member and a principal with Baystate Fiduciary Advisors Inc. “The fact that the questionnaire stems from the experience and business models of a highly successful and nationally recognized group of advisers enables a sponsor to avoid the guesswork about what should be asked or measured in the benchmarking of an investment/fiduciary adviser.”

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The council also developed an adviser search protocol for plan sponsors that is posted on its website. The protocol outlines a suggested process for plan sponsors seeking a retirement plan adviser, or to perform due diligence on a current one.     

The free template is available here.

 

Deals & People July 6, 2012

SEC Names Norm Champ Director of Division of Investment Management

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) named Norm Champ director of the agency’s Division of Investment Management.
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Champ, a former hedge fund executive, had been deputy director of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE). He assumes his new duties on July 9 and succeeds Eileen Rominger, who is retiring.

Champ has been with the SEC since 2010. Previously, he was general counsel for 10 years as well as a member of the executive committee and a partner at the investment management firm Chilton Investment Co., a multinational adviser to private funds and managed accounts.

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In OCIE, where he sits on the Executive and Operating Committees, Champ served as the acting head of the broker/dealer, investment adviser/investment company and credit rating agency exam programs and as acting chief counsel. Champ led the creation of the division’s first examination manual. Champ said he defined the division’s main mission as “protecting investors” rather than focusing on systemic risk.

“Norm has proven himself to be a natural leader and an expert at managing programs that bolster our financial markets and protect investors,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “His breadth of experience and deep insight into so many aspects of the securities industry will well serve investors and the agency.”

During his SEC tenure, Champ received the Chairman’s Award for Law and Policy for his role in OCIE’s implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Chairman’s Award for Labor-Management Relations for his role in the reorganization of OCIE.

Champ is a lecturer at Harvard Law School, where he has taught a course on private funds investment management law.

The SEC’s Division of Investment Management protects investors and promotes capital formation through oversight and regulation of the nation’s multitrillion-dollar investment management industry. The division monitors investment funds, professional fund managers, securities research analysts and investment advisers.

Champ received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, summa cum laude. He received his master’s degree in 1986 from King’s College University of London, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He earned his juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, cum laude.

 

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