Deals & People July 5, 2011

Former Labor Secretary to Join Protective Life Board

Protective Life Corporation announced that Elaine L. Chao, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, has been elected to the Birmingham, Alabama, insurer’s Board of Directors. 
Reported by

Chao served on Protective’s Board from 1997 until 2001, when she became the 24th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. Chao was the only member of former President George W. Bush’s Cabinet to serve during all eight years of his administration, and was the first Asian Pacific American appointed to a presidential cabinet position.  

Currently, Chao is a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a regular contributor to Fox News. She has also served as President and CEO of the United Way of America, Director of the Peace Corps, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, and Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission, and has worked in the private sector at Bank of America and Citicorp.  

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“Secretary Chao’s extensive experience at the highest levels in the public, private and non-profit sectors will no doubt prove of great value to our company as we navigate through a rapidly evolving set of business and regulatory issues in our various lines of business,” said Protective’s CEO John D. Johns. “We are delighted to have someone with such a rich array of accomplishments and distinguished record of service rejoin our Board of Directors.” 

Products July 5, 2011

Firms Partner to Provide Fee Disclosure Solution

Castle Rock Innovations (CRI) and Millennium Investment and Retirement Advisors (MIRA) will collaborate to provide turnkey 408(b)(2) fiduciary analytics and consulting services.
Reported by

CRI says that the partnership will boost its AXIS Retirement Plan Analytic Platform, which was developed to address the Department of Labor’s 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements.  MIRA’s Fiduciary Analytics Consulting Services (FACS) will provide dedicated 408(b)(2) and independent fiduciary support and oversight, integrated with AXIS’ data processing and reporting services for broker/dealer and registered investment adviser (RIA) firms.

ERISA §404(a) and §408(b)(2) require plan fiduciaries to evaluate if their service/cost arrangements made with their 401(k) providers are reasonable. According to the announcement, FACS provides assurance of these facts for every 401(k) plan. The service will provide plan setup and review of every fund lineup, including benchmarking services, to ensure that each service provider arrangement is fully ERISA compliant. The service will also provide support for advisers that are servicing each plan.

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“We recognize that Investment Advisor relationships and compensation will be scrutinized under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5),” said Rick Canipe and James Holland, principals of FACS. “This tool will arm them with the cost and service benchmarks needed to demonstrate their value to retain and take market share. Beyond that, AXIS can also quickly identify those plans that are vulnerable.”

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