MassMutual Expands Fiduciary Investment Support

Retirement plan sponsors and advisers working with MassMutual now have greater flexibility and expanded tools and technology to help manage their fiduciary obligations and risks. 

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) is expanding its fiduciary support services for retirement plan investment selection and monitoring.

Tina Wilson, senior vice president for investment solutions innovation, says the service expansion features new “voice of the customer feedback” from employers and financial advisers and is designed to deliver “more options, more choices and more customization.”

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In addition, the MassMutual Fiduciary Assure program, provided in partnership with Envestnet Retirement Solutions LLC, now offers two levels of fiduciary oversight for retirement plan investments. ERS is a majority-owned subsidiary of Envestnet, Inc., a registered investment adviser. Envestnet, Inc. is not affiliated with MassMutual or any of its subsidiaries.

According to the firms, Fiduciary Assure provides sponsors with “different levels of support, greater flexibility and more investment choices than typically available through fiduciary investment support services.” Wilson observes both the new 3(38) service and the existing 3(21) service offers sponsors a wide range of investment options to choose from.

Both the 3(38) and 3(21) services are available at no additional cost to retirement plans with less than $5 million in recordkeeping assets, according to Wilson. Larger plans pay a fee of two basis points for either service, she says. Under the 3(38) service, sponsors can allocate certain fiduciary investment responsibilities to ERS. ERS or the plan sponsor develops the investment lineup from a pre-approved list of investment options. ERS monitors the investment performance and directs MassMutual to adjust the investment lineup as needed in order to meet core asset class requirements.

With the 3(21) service, sponsors share their fiduciary investment responsibility with ERS. Sponsors retain the ultimate decision-making authority provided their investment lineup includes at least one investment option in each of four core asset classes (cash equivalent, domestic bond, domestic equity and foreign equity) from a pre-selected list provided by ERS. Or, sponsors can opt for a pre-selected investment lineup. Sponsors are responsible for making ongoing investment line-up changes in order to maintain the core asset class requirements.

As part of the enhancements, Fiduciary Assure further provides sponsors and advisers digital access to critical reporting information, Wilson concludes. Separate websites enable sponsors and advisers to monitor fiduciary compliance by providing “fingertip access” to reporting that is specific to each retirement plan. Sponsors’ fiduciary investment reports are housed within an online data vault.

More information is available at www.massmutualatwork.com/fiduciary-assure

Fiduciary Training from fi360 Considers DOL Shift

Multiple broker/dealers are gaining access to fi360’s Fiduciary Essentials for Advisors program.

Fiduciary-related education services provider fi360 revealed a new program called Fiduciary Essentials for Advisors (FEA), designed to provide timely training to assist financial professionals as they respond to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new conflict of interest regulation.

The firm says the FEA program is a “self-paced online program that provides a foundation of fiduciary education.” The program focuses on the fiduciary roles and responsibilities of advisers managing qualified retirement plan programs and individual retirement accounts.

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Divided into five modules that cover a range of fiduciary-related themes, advisers will come away from the FEA training with a better understanding of the obligations under today’s regulatory environment, the specific requirements of the DOL’s conflict of interest rule and how to adopt fi360’s fiduciary best practices. (See “Fiduciary Rule Aftermath for RIAs” and ”Fiduciary Rule Aftermath for Non-RIAs”.)

“In terms of application, participants will be taught how to make investment decisions that are in the best interest of clients, as well as receive training on retirement plans and services,” the firm adds.  

“We’ve been developing fiduciary practices and training advisors since 1999. Finalization of the DOL fiduciary rule has created unprecedented demand for our services, and we’re thrilled to offer firms our Fiduciary Essentials for Advisors program,” says John Faustino, chief product and strategy officer at fi360.

Learn more at www.fi360.com.  

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