Products December 23, 2008

How Does Your Program Stack Up?

Ever wonder how your DC plan clients' plan measures up against comparable plans?

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Is the match competitive? How does their participation rate stack up to other plans in the same industry? And how about those target date funds – are they reasonably priced and do they offer a sound glide path?

For more than 5 years, PLANSPONSOR Industry Reports, now available for 35 industries, have proven to be invaluable benchmarking tools for financial advisers when pitching to prospects and for client annual plan reviews. Financial advisers appreciate the value of being able to show a prospect or client how their plan stacks up next to others in their same industry and asset class across a host of plan features and metrics.

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The report covers all topics covered by the PLANSPONSOR DC Survey:

comparisons by asset class
comprehensive analysis of dozens of areas of plan design
in-depth coverage of 401(k) plan design and investments, including:
participation rates
automatic enrollment features
investment options
company match
company stock
investment advice
online features
plan costs/fees
adviser services
investment policy statements

For a limited time, PLANSPONSOR is offering these reports to financial advisers at the deeply discounted price of just $500. If advisers order before December 31st, included for free with the Industry Report will be the PLANSPONSOR/Target Date Analytics “Popping the Hood III’ report on Target Date Funds (a $1,200 value).

If you have additional questions or wish to place an order, please contact Quinn Keeler at qkeeler@assetinternational.com or 203-595-3274.

Data & Research December 23, 2008

Fiduciary Support Fuels Consulting Demand

Most advisers in the small to mid-sized market say that increasing sponsor concerns about revenue sharing and fiduciary duties are fueling consulting demand, according to Cerulli Associates.

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Ellie Behling

Large consultants answer even more strongly, with 69% agreeing that such sponsor concerns are fueling consulting demand. On other issues, consultants in the large plan space and consultants in the small and mid-sized market showed similar results.

Other results of research of consultants in the small and mid-size market, according to the latest The Cerulli Edge—Retirement Edition:

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38% agree broker/dealer and platform research groups are formidable competitors (38% of large consultants)
29% agree lifecycle funds are inferior due to high reliance on proprietary managers (31% of consultants)
27% agree recordkeepers will increasingly act in an advice capacity due to recent pension reforms (19% of large consultants)
13% agree lifecycle funds and other pre-packaged solutions are taking some business away from consultants (19% of large consultants)

Wealth Transfer

Cerulli’s research also found that advisers who are active practitioners of wealth transfer planning those who spend more than 25% of their time on wealth transfer issues) cater to a slightly more affluent client base than do passive practitioners (advisers who spend 1% to 25% of their time on wealth transfer). The most frequent wealth tier served by both groups is the mass affluent ($1 million to $5 million in net worth).

Interestingly, the passive wealth-transfer practitioners are more enthusiastic users of annuities as destinations for rollover dollars. In fact, more than 40% of advisers who are actively involved in wealth transfer shun any type of annuity when assisting clients with rollover issues, according to Cerulli.

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