New Retirement Plan Analytic Platform Ready for 408(b)(2)

Castle Rock Innovations, LLC (CRI) has rolled out a servicing platform that it says addresses the Department of Labor’s 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements.

According to a press release, AXIS Retirement Plan Analytic Platform (AXIS) is designed to service all retirement plan types through a single web-based interface and data repository, and can interface with any system of record supporting retirement plan data feeds. Additionally, the AXIS platform provides features to edit and generate reports for filings and report plan expenses, with tools that allow retirement plan managers and fiduciaries to view their business across multiple recordkeeping platforms.

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Chicago-based Castle Rock, which describes itself as a provider of technology-based solutions for the retirement industry, said that the patent pending AXIS is a web-based software service “that supports the ability for Broker Dealers, Product Manufactures and TPA’s to support these new regulatory fee disclosure reporting requirements.”  The AXIS platform “provides complete coverage from brokerage platform to retirement plan platform and provides the ability for advisors to identify and establish plans outside the traditional turnkey environments,” and that by “providing a single view and the ability to manage reporting risks the AXIS platform allows fiduciaries to handle the ongoing daily tasks of monitoring and reporting fees to plans efficiently and effectively.”

Tom Loch, Senior Vice President of Castle Rock Innovations, LLC, noted "We spent the time to understand the real pain that the industry would go through to meet the new reporting requirements. We found that the Broker Dealer community did not have a systemic capability to identify, collect and establish data from various partner systems for the purpose of managing plan level fee data and generating a comprehensive Fee Disclosure Document for their plans. We also learned that many Broker Dealers are very concerned about identifying and tracking plans that are sold and serviced outside of the traditional manufactures environment.” 

Loch noted that the firm “…focused our efforts within our servicing platform in its ability to collect and transform data into single data repository and to provide an interface for managing, collecting and reporting plan level fees from many system sources. Our second focus was to build the data processing engine necessary to track changes to fees and the work flow processes to report them efficiently based upon the 60 day reporting rule."

The AXIS Platform is scheduled for commercial release May 2011.

Castle Rock Innovations is a privately owned and operated corporation with headquarter in Chicago Illinois and offices in CT, NY, NJ, MA, FL and TX.  Additional information is available at http://www.castlellc.com

Providers Team up for Fiduciary Services to Smaller Plans

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company has partnered with Wilshire Associates Incorporated to help plan sponsors meet their fiduciary obligations in screening, selecting and monitoring investment options.

These services are available as part of AXA Equitable’s new Retirement Gateway group variable annuity designed to fund retirement plans for the small- to mid-size market.    

Wilshire offers two levels of support to Gateway clients providing sponsors with choice and flexibility. The 3(21) Series designed for those who wish to retain primary responsibility for investment selection. The 3(38) Series designed for those who prefer Wilshire to have discretion over investment selection decisions.  

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The 3(21) option comes standard with the Gateway plan. With this service, Wilshire is responsible for selecting investment options for each asset category and recommends specific investment options for various model lineups. These model lineups provide plan sponsors choice and flexibility by allowing them to choose between pre-set menus or the option of creating a more customized lineup from a broader list of options. If sponsors follow Wilshire’s guideline recommendations and meet the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA’s) diversification requirements, Wilshire agrees to act as co-fiduciary as defined under section 3(21) of ERISA.  

The 3(38) Series is an optional benefit, available at an additional cost. This service gives Wilshire the authority to select and de-select investment options for a sponsor’s plan in accordance with its judgment of the performance of the investment managers. Under Section 3(38), Wilshire agrees, in writing, that it is the investment fiduciary for the plan with responsibility for investment selection and monitoring.  

“We are excited that our relationship with AXA Equitable will allow us to efficiently offer smaller businesses the independent investment advisory solutions and services we have been providing to institutional plans for decades,” said Jamie Ohl, president of Wilshire Funds Management.

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