One for the Record Books
July and August traditionally have been slow months for news, but the last month or two have been anything but.
Reported by Alison Cooke Mintzer
Not only do I continue to receive notices from advisers that either have moved firms, or started their own firm, but also there have been a fair share of deals going on, most notably in the retirement plan advisory space, the acquisition of National Retirement Partners (NRP) by LPL. As the deal was announced while LPL was in a quiet period (one that now extends to NRP as well), we don’t have many details outside of the fact that NRP Founder and CEO Bill Chetney will run a new division of LPL, but I imagine things will heat up later this year when we start to hear from advisers deciding what this means for them.
The regulators never sleep (and apparently don’t take summer break either). July also saw the publication of the interim final (an oxymoron if ever there were one) 408(b)(2) fee disclosure regulations from the Department of Labor (DoL), which are slated to go into effect next year. Those will require service providers to show plan sponsors more significant details about their fees—a shift that comes on top of the new fee disclosures on the 2009 Form 5500 Schedule C. Stay tuned, because our next issue will have more details about these regulations to help you get organized and understand what you have to be telling clients.
Not to be outdone, news also came out of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month—namely that it voted to amend Form ADV required by all registered investment advisers (RIAs) and that it wants to “provide a new framework governing how mutual fund companies collect fees to cover the costs of marketing and selling mutual funds.” Part of that revamping would include the elimination of 12b-1 fees. For those of you still relying on those fees for compensation, you will want to proactively understand how the new structure might affect your business going forward.
The heat of summer is found mostly outdoors, and advisers routinely spend those months gearing up for the hot fall selling season. In anticipation of that, in this issue, we have provided you with multiple articles to help you sell and service better.
While participant behavior has been discussed at length in our industry, less attention has been paid to the difficulties plan sponsors have in making certain decisions. Our cover story “Behavior Modification” talks about plan sponsor behavior—specifically, four decisions plan sponsors have tough times making, and how you can help.
As part of our series about targeting demographic groups, “Gender Gap” examines how retirement plan advisers can help women combat a potential retirement savings shortfall and why certain characteristics of women put them at increased risk for a lack of savings.
Although a focus on small-business targets is not for every adviser, many are now realizing new opportunities here. There’s certainly room to grow your business in this area, especially when you consider that as many as two-thirds of such companies don’t currently offer a retirement plan. “The Wild, Wild West” offers some helpful advice about how to convince small-business owners how and why they should offer a retirement plan.
Here’s hoping all of you are enjoying your summer and getting some down time despite all the activity. We, of course, will continue to keep you informed both online at planadviser.com and in these pages so that you can enjoy the summer without feeling the heat.