Attorneys and plan advisors need to proactively educate fiduciaries on how to prevent breaches and errors ahead of time, advises Steff Chalk, suggesting that one possible solution to this challenge lies in corporate education.
Writing in the Spring 2015 issue of NAPA Net the Magazine, Chalk says that higher education isn’t putting enough emphasis on ensuring students get a well-rounded education, making it increasingly likely that entire companies can operate without having anyone who is a math whiz.
At the same time, it is easier than ever for fiduciaries to access the training and education they need, making the kinds of advisors and attorneys who fix problems after they’ve occurred, as opposed to helping trustees identify issues proactively, “walking dinosaurs.” Chalk says that some plan advisors, who used to make themselves valuable by (falsely) creating an impression that only they could be smart investors or problem solvers, must now work to educate fiduciaries on how to do their duty more capably.
“In my experience with DOL audits from both afar and within, the summation of the DOL audit has never included a finding that the plan trustees are overqualified for the role in which they serve,” Chalk observes. “The inability of corporate America to develop strong qualified plan fiduciaries has been a glaring failure affecting the retirement industry.”
Chalk says that a possible solution to this failure lies in corporate education, which is designed to give working professionals post-secondary learning with a more specific focus than traditional graduate programs. He suggests that advisors steer would-be fiduciaries to classes that allow them to gain the kinds of well-rounded education they need to be top-flight trustees.
“Quality content exists for the training and education of retirement plan fiduciaries,” Chalk writes. “What we need to discuss is how to improve access to that content.”
To read Chalk’s full column, click here and select “Rethinking the Education of Plan Trustees.” To view the full 78-page Spring issue of NAPA Net the Magazine, click here.
