Top of the Heap

"Each year we find new names and faces within this process, advisers who we enjoy getting to know, whether through speaking at or attending our conferences, through email exchanges or because they become finalists for the awards. I hope that continues, and that we get a chance to know you—and your practices—even better this year."
Reported by Alison Cooke Mintzer, Editor-in-Chief

 

It is my great pleasure this issue to spotlight Stace Hilbrant of 401k Advisors, PLANSPONSOR’s 2012 Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year, and the team at the Danvers office of Graystone Consulting, PLANSPONSOR’s 2012 Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year—both were named at the PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Awards for Excellence celebration at the end of March. Although we included profiles featuring both in our last issue with the other finalists, in this issue we have enhanced that coverage, beginning on pages 34 and 40, respectively. I think you will see why our panels of judges believed they are fit to be recognized as fulfilling the awards’ mission: “To identify the nation’s best advisers who are helping make retirement security a reality for workers across the nation.”

Each year we find new names and faces within this process, advisers who we enjoy getting to know, whether through speaking at or attending our conferences, through email exchanges or because they become finalists for the awards. I hope that continues, and that we get a chance to know you—and your practices—even better this year.*

In this issue, we also introduce a new survey, that of defined contribution investment-only (DCIO) providers. While the survey does not represent the entire DCIO industry (yet), it does give insight into some of its players and a sense of their size, and also the products and services they offer to the advisers who are critical to the distribution of their funds into defined contribution (DC) plans. You can see the survey, including listings of individual providers and services each offers to financial advisers on page 46.

Among investment managers, the disparities in opinions about glide path creation, fund construction, active versus passive management, fees and open versus closed architecture in target-date funds are great. How do you help plan sponsor clients decide whether the fund suites they’ve selected are right for their plan situations? “Staying on Target” on page 52 provides five considerations to help answer that question.

As the industry prepares for the implementation of 408(b)(2) in July, some have questioned whether the focus on the plan sponsor disclosure regulations has come at the expense of the participant disclosures set to take effect shortly thereafter. “Heads Up” (page 66) addresses this, as well as what plan ­sponsors should know about 404(a)(5) and what plan advisers should be doing to help them prepare for these participant disclosure rules. Also dealing with fees, “Horse to Water” (page 58) discusses some of the challenges advisers in the small- and micro-plan markets find when transitioning to a fee-based model.

To bundle or not to bundle a nonqualified deferred compensation provider is a question that does not always have an obvious answer. “Separate or Together” (page 62) discusses when you, as an adviser, might want to recommend to plan sponsors that they bundle their plans with their existing 401(k) providers, and when they might not want to bundle and decide to work with specialized NQDC plan administrators.   

Our columnists also weigh in on this issue. Marcia Wagner continues her discussion of proposed regulations and immediately effective revenue rulings pertaining to lifetime income, released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (page 70), and Steff Chalk addresses 3(38) relationships (page 72).

Lastly, for those of you who have heard about the new social networking site Pinterest, but are unsure what it is or how to use it, this issue’s Learner’s Permit article gives you some helpful hints about how you can use this site for your business. All this and more … enjoy!

* I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. For those who wish to be included in the process for the 2013 PLANADVISER Top 100 Advisers and the 2013 PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year and Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year awards, the nomination process opens the day after Labor Day (Tuesday, September 4). Don’t say you didn’t know.