GRP Advisor Alliance has announced the launch of an MVP Training Series for member firms that it says is designed to help practices groom their rising stars on rapidly emerging subject matters ranging from Financial Wellness, HSAs to CITs.Content will be delivered monthly starting this September by... READ MORE

Custom target date funds (TDFs) are growing in popularity, but are they a better option?For a plan fiduciary seeking greater control and contextualization than what a prepackaged TDF offers, a custom TDF may be a more appropriate option, according to a new white paper from Columbia Threadneedle... READ MORE

The NAPA 401(k) Summit is the only retirement plan advisor event developed by advisors for advisors – and this is how it starts.When we say that the NAPA 401(k) Summit is built by advisors, for advisors, we mean it. The 2018 NAPA 401(k) Summit Steering Committee has already been hard at work,... READ MORE

A recent report by the Retirement Advisor Council (RAC) suggests that CFOs who partner with a retirement plan advisor rated as “outstanding” are better able to control future labor costs, spend less time administering their retirement plan and more time running the organization, thus easing the... READ MORE

While growth in clients and assets under management (AUM) was relatively healthy and income-related metrics were largely favorable for advisory firms in 2016, revenue per team member failed to increase for the first time since 2009, according to a new report by TD Ameritrade Institutional.This year... READ MORE

Extending their first-quarter gains, target-date funds posted a return of 2.83% in the second quarter, with diversification to non-U.S. equities helping drive TDF performance, according to the Callan Target Date Index.Updated quarterly, the Index is an equally weighted composite of 44 TDF series,... READ MORE

The recent DOL FAQs provided relief in situations where an advisor provided a non-fiduciary service to an ERISA plan prior to the applicability date of the fiduciary regulation, but became a fiduciary on June 9 solely because of the change of definition. However, there are situations that the FAQs... READ MORE

You and I know our customers will look for us on social media before making a phone call or stopping by our offices. Guess what? You don’t need a separate policy governing how your employees will represent you on social media.What better way is there to stay top of mind with your target audience... READ MORE

Earlier this year, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the participants in a university’s plan do not have to exhaust administrative remedies before they pursue claims of ERISA violations. A recent blog entry discusses what this ruling means for plan fiduciaries.In “Exhaustion of Plan... READ MORE

Surpassing industry projections, the number of new cash balance plans adopted by employers increased by 17% — rising to 17,812 active plans — in 2015, the most recent year for which complete IRS Form 5500 data is available, according to new research by Kravitz, Inc., an Ascensus company.Kravitz’s “... READ MORE

Many years ago, there was a commercial (for car oil filters, as I recall) that cautioned, “You can pay me now, or pay me later” – in other words, spend a little now on an oil filter, or pay lots later on to fix the damage done by not doing so. It’s a mantra that I’ve heard employed to encourage... READ MORE

A survey of larger plan sponsors finds most concerned about the potential participant response to a mandated shift to Roth tax treatment in 401(k) plans.The member survey the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA) found that 78% of the 61 member respondents believed that a... READ MORE