Products July 22, 2011

Women's Group Releases MEP 401(k)

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce (USWCC) is launching several financial and business service enterprises, including a Multiple Employer Plan for female small-business owners.
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The USWCC reports its new services aim to give women more control of their financial future. The first product being offered as part of USWCC’s initiative is SmartRETIRE 401k. USWCC says that too often, female small-business owners have not been offering retirement plans because of their traditionally higher costs and administrative burdens. SmartRETIRE 401k is a Multiple Employer Plan 401(k), available to business members of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.  A Multiple Employer Plan, or MEP, is a single Qualified Retirement Plan housing multiple “adopting employers” with common retirement savings objectives (see “Transamerica Believes MEPs Can Provide Growth for Advisers“). 

SmartRETIRE401k is a flexible plan with independent investment management (Morningstar Investment Services), low costs to start and run, reduced fiduciary risk, and the ongoing education and support of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce and USWCC Money, LLC.

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‘”Over the last century, women’s economic clout and industry leadership has grown dramatically,” says Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce.  “Women have gone from the home to the office into business ownership and political leadership.  Now, we open the next frontier — leadership and control of our own national financial and business service enterprises that put women in the driver’s seat for retirement planning and business growth.”

The USWCC is also introducing USWCC Money, LLC (a registered investment adviser providing retirement planning and investment advisory services), USWCC Financial, LLC (providing business and personal financial services), USWCC Insurance, LLC and USWCC Business, LLC (providing business solutions, ecommerce stores and malls).

The USWCC is a not-for-profit 501(c)6 organization founded in 2001; its headquarters offices are located in Washington, D.C.   

Deals & People July 21, 2011

Providers Team up on Fiduciary Services

Safe Harbor Asset Management (SAM) has formed a partnership with MilleniuM Investment & Retirement Advisors (MIRA) in support of its 401k Solution.
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MIRA has been providing independent fiduciary services to 401(k) plans for the past ten years, helping sponsors ensure they are fully compliant with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  

“We partnered with MIRA for their ability to act as an independent fiduciary for our 401(k) clients. They offer the ability to provide a turnkey process to identify all ERISA plan challenges and the reporting services necessary to be compliant by end of year requirements. Our goal is to make it easy for our clients to be compliant with the new Department of Labor (DoL) regulations taking effect. There is a great deal of confusion as to what is required and how those requirements can be satisfied,” said Steve Davis, CEO of Safe Harbor Asset Management.

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ERISA §404(a) and the prohibited transaction provisions in §408(b) (2), requires fiduciaries to evaluate whether service/cost arrangements with 401(k) providers are reasonable. Millenium recently formed a partnership with Castle Rock Innovations as well (see “Firms Partner to Provide Fee Disclosure Solution“).

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