Posts by
In yet another ERISA-related case, aerospace and defense technology firm L3Harris found itself in the crosshairs of an excessive fee lawsuit. Plaintiffs alleged that the retirement plan’s massive size should have given them the leverage to negotiate more competitive recordkeeping and administrative options, as well as lower fees. The company recently arrived at a settlement, though not before enduring a two-year legal battle.
Like in basketball, as a retirement plan advisor, you have to coordinate with a team — a recordkeeper, TPA, HR, the plan sponsor and more — to achieve top performance for the participants counting on you. But to be a baller on the court, or as a retirement plan pro, you’ve got to be able to size up situations accurately in real time, pass critical information to sponsors and other members of the team and respond quickly to achieve top performance for your plan.
Benchmarking solutions like PlanFees Prism Total Fees Benchmarking, Prism365 and RFP Express help advisors offer fast, accurate and actionable fee insights to clients. These revolutionary tools deliver impressive results because they’re powered by RPAG, the premiere retirement plan practice management platform, with advisor members serving more than 120,000 plans and $1.5 trillion in assets under influence.
In the evolving landscape of financial advisory services, PlanFees introduced a ground-breaking solution: RFP Express. This instant quoting tool, powered by RPAG technology, has reshaped how advisors manage and deliver services to plan sponsor clients, elevating the benchmarking process to unprecedented heights. Advisors can obtain quotes within minutes when requests meet predefined pricing criteria, and benefit from custom pricing within an astonishing one to two days — in stark contrast to the traditional weeks-long wait of live-bid benchmarking.
On Valentine’s Day, it’s customary to express caring with a gift of chocolate and roses. But you may get some funny looks if you try that with plan sponsors. When demonstrating your commitment to clients, what you really want to offer them isn’t flowers or foil-wrapped bon bons — it’s fee transparency. That’s because trust is the cornerstone of most lasting relationships, even those steeped in fiduciary responsibility.
Yogi Berra could have called this one — an excessive fee lawsuit against Old Dominion Freight Line is the second such action taken against the transportation company in the span of just one year. The latest suit, filed Sept. 27, 2023, makes allegations similar to the previous case, which a federal judge had dismissed just weeks prior, citing lack of evidence. Plaintiffs accuse the company of opting for pricier share classes over more affordable share classes for the same investments.
As the new year unfolds, it brings with it exciting opportunities for renewal and change. And retirement plan advisors are no exception to this season of transformation. Here are a few resolutions that can help guide your professional practice to new heights in 2024.
With all of the chaos surrounding the holidays, it can be hard to find our loved ones a gift they'll truly love. Fruit cakes, stress balls, and gift cards may seem like a good idea at first, but in the world of financial advisory it's the gifts of service throughout the year that truly matter. In order to ultimately strengthen relationships and pave the way for more successful financial outcomes, we will discuss ways in which advisors can go beyond the seasonal offerings and provide value to their clients.
As the year draws to a close, our minds turn to the tangible tokens of appreciation we often give our clients. But once the fruitcake is long gone and the holiday festivities fade into memory, the enduring needs of retirement plan clients remain. And that’s when an advisor’s true value really comes to the fore. Because it’s the ongoing, intangible gifts of exceptional service that resonate throughout the year and help lay the foundation for long-lasting partnerships — and more successful retirement plan outcomes.
Ensuring that PlanFees are reasonable is one of the most important responsibilities as a retirement plan advisor. Excessive fees can negatively impact retirement savings, impacting plan performance and possibly resulting in legal issues. Having reliable tools at your fingertips is essential for executing your fiduciary duty in an efficient and effective manner. We will go over how advisors can be supported by Prism Total Fees and RFP Express to perform fast fee audits, identify the underlying causes of excessive fees, and implement practical measures to control and openly discuss fees.