401(k) Fridays Podcast

Episode Description You would have to have been living under a rock for the past few years if you are an employer who sponsors a retirement plan and you haven't notice the dramatic increase in the number and pace of 401(k) lawsuits.  There is even a 401(k) case that went to the Supreme Court!  To help employers understand what is driving 401(k) lawsuits, common themes in current litigation and ways employers can manage risk, I invited David Levine, Principal and ERISA Attorney at Groom Law to the podcast to offer some perspective.  David is an annual fixture on the lists of Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, etc. and more importantly lives and breathes ERISA matters.  As you will hear, while employers continue to get better at executing their duties as fiduciaries, plaintiff's attorneys also are getting better at exploiting gaps and inconsistencies in fiduciary processes.  Also, we discuss what is really motivating plaintiff's attorneys, recent initiatives of the DOL and why he hopes more companies fight plaintiff'

Episode Description: In this installment of our Industry Profile series we focus on topics, trends and thoughts specific to employers in higher education and their retirement plans.  As you will hear from my guest, Patricia Harte, head of TIAA’s institutional relationship management team, while many of the core values embraced by institutions and reflected in their retirement plans have stayed the same, the strategies, tools and conversations are evolving!  Patty pulls from her roughly 25 years of experience working with higher education clients and TIAA research to discuss the latest insights around the concepts of shared responsibility and ideas to help with your reluctant retirees.  Also, we discuss the shift in the measurement of participant success from balance accumulation to retirement outcomes, psychosocial barriers to retirement and longevity in higher ed.  Whether you are a state or private institution, there are stories, examples and other information you will find useful!  Guest Bio: Patricia Hart

Episode Summary For most employees, making the transition into retirement means they have to come to grips with how they are going to live without a paycheck for arguably the rest of their life.  While this is a highly personal and individual decision, if you are their employer at the time, the decision about when and if they are ready to make the transition into retirement can have a big impact on you!  To help get more familiar with the struggles and challenges in preparing as well as the participant tools and resources needed to help make life without a paycheck a reality, I sat down with Jerry Patterson the Senior Vice President of Retirement & Investor Services at Principal Financial Group.  During our conversation he shares his experience, research and advice on how participants get tripped up by admiring a balance, not understanding fixed and variable expenses and falling victim to retirement drift.  We also spend time talking about strategies employers may explore to help their employees with decu

Episode Summary Here is another Sponsor Spotlight episode, where we interview an employer who took a different approach or strategy to change participant behaviors and outcomes.  In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sarah Redgrave, the Vice President of Total Rewards at KinderCare Education.  Sarah shares a unique approach she and her team took to integrate the 401(k) plan communication into their new total rewards strategy.  While the campaign had some surprising and positive results, the real benefit of this episode is Sarah’s introspective, honest and motivational thoughts she shares with employers on finding your north star, blazing new trails and bravery in business.  Finally, be sure to stick around after the interview for a new closing segment called the 401(k) Fridays Fiduciary Fact and Folly.   Guest Bio Sarah has over 15 years of international experience in benefits, compensation, internal communication, and change management.  Currently she is accountable for the Total Rewards prog

Episode Description It should be no surprise that 401(k) plan fees have been the hot topic of discussion amongst both plan sponsors and the industry.  With fee disclosure regulations, a growing number of lawsuits and the press all swirling around the issue the need for plan fiduciaries to have a process to both understand and evaluate plan fees for reasonableness has never been more important.  My guest, Tom Kmak, the CEO and co-founder of the firm Fiduciary Benchmarks which provides independent, comprehensive and informative fee benchmarking services is in a unique position in this conversation, over the past 9 years they have evaluated and benchmarked the fees of over 80,000 retirement plans.  During our conversation, Tom specifically shares his experience and perspective on how to create a meaningful fee benchmarking process.  As a 30 year industry veteran, he also shares great stories, analogies and opinions to help employers understand and process some of the more controversial and complex topics around

Episode Description As the Greek Philosopher Heraclitus said, the only thing that is constant is change.  At no time has that statement likely been more accurate about 401(k) plans than where we are today in the retirement market.  My guest George Castineiras is the Managing Director of Gibraltar Ventures.  He spends his time speaking to and making investments in companies that are shaping what the next several decades of the retirement industry will look like, as a preview things will likely be very different.  Our conversation highlights George’s experience focusses specifically on the concepts, trends and topics that employers should start thinking about today and keep an eye on over the next several years.  Throughout, as only George can, he provides great examples, insights and predictions that will definitely leave you thinking! Guest Bio George Castineiras is responsible for exploring, developing and investing in transformational ideas and business strategies to power the ambitions of people, instituti

Episode Summary Sometimes employers will comment, we don’t hear to much about the 401(k) from our employees, well that’s not because your employees don’t have questions, it’s likely because they are going elsewhere to get their answers!  To help uncover what 401(k) participants are doing outside the watchful eyes of their employers, is my guest Catherine Golladay, the Senior Vice President of Participant Services and Administration at Charles Schwab. During our conversation, we explore how 401(k) participants are engaging with call centers, onsite education teams and advice offerings.  Catherine does a great job pulling from her experience to share specific stories and examples for employers to help leverage what she has learned with her participant services teams. Finally, be sure to listen for her perspectives on the importance of merging plan design, technology and people as the key ingredients to improve plan health and participant retirement outcomes. Guest Bio Catherine Golladay is senior vice president

Episode Description By leaps and bounds, target date funds, or lifecycle funds are the fastest growing investment in 401(k) plans primarily due to their popularity with plan sponsors as the qualified default investment alternative, or QDIA in their 401(k) plan.  As some fiduciaries are starting to realize, evaluating target date funds can be a bit tricky due to the numerous variances in style from one fund to another.  For that reason, I invited Rich Weiss, Senior Portfolio Manager at American Century Investments to help demystify target date funds and help employers better understand what they should focus on as they evaluate options in the market.  Rich does a great job of effortlessly explaining both the fundamentals of target date funds and more specific concepts of risk that employers should be aware in their monitoring and evaluation process.  He also discusses the three pillars of differentiation amongst target date managers, glide path construction, investment diversification and management style.  As

Episode Description Over the years, participant 401(k) plan loans have gotten a bad rap both with plan sponsors and within the industry.  In this episode my guest, Todd Cowman, a Senior Consultant at the Principal Financial Group explores whether that bad reputation is deserved.  Todd does a great job of explaining some of the fundamentals of 401(k) plan loans, which are often times misunderstood, and brings a frank overview of the pros and cons of 401(k) plan loans for participants and plan sponsors.  Finally, he leaves plan sponsors with some thoughts on plan design and loan policy features to help limit the potential abuses of 401(k) loans.  Guest Bio Todd Cowman is a Senior Consultant for the Principal Financial Group . Todd has been with the Principal Financial Group since 1993.  He works primarily with Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit clients, both qualified and nonqualified, with up to $1B in retirement plan assets, designing an overall retirement program that is both cost effective to employer

Episode Summary You might have heard that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, you also might understand a thing or two about Millenials, Generation Xers and Baby Boomers.  However, what you might not realize is that having a better grasp on how different generations and genders approach preparing for retirement could actually help you improve your retirement plan health.  My guest, Margaret Rux, is a principal and head of Strategic Retirement Consulting at Vanguard. Her team of attorneys, actuaries, plan analysts, and senior benefits professionals offer consulting, analysis, and expertise on a variety of fiduciary and regulatory issues affecting plan design and compliance.  Margaret shares great insights from their research on the differences between the generations and genders in retirement plans.  For plan sponsors, she shares strong evidence that your go forward plan design can be the great equalizer between historical differences between the groups. Guest Bio Margaret Rux is a principal and head o

Episode Summary If you are at all curious about how rising interest rates here in the United States could impact your 401(k) investments, employees and the economy, my guest Chris Dillon a fixed income portfolio specialist with T. Rowe Price covers these topics and more!  During our conversation Chris does a great job of explaining in an understandable way some fundamental concepts such as what a fixed income yield curve is and how interest rate changes impact bond prices.  He also helps make sense of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy, how negative rates and deflation in some countries could impact the US markets and why inflation is a good thing.  Finally, he provides great insights on strategies employers can use in your 401(k) to position your fixed income offerings and to provide options that could do well in a rising interest rate environment.  This episode is packed, I hope you enjoy! Guest Bio Chris Dillon is a portfolio specialist in the Fixed Income Division at T. Rowe Price. He supports the

Episode Summary Well, I have to admit, this episode didn’t unfold quite the way I thought it was going to, however, thanks to my guest, Peter Dunn, aka Pete the Planner, it turned out to be the most inspirational and motivational episode of the 401(k) Fridays podcast yet.  Pete the Planner® has a unique set of gifts as both an award-winning comedian and financial mind. He's a USA TODAY columnist and the author of ten books, and the host of the popular radio show The Pete the Planner Show. Pete has appeared regularly on CNN Headline News, Fox News, Fox Business as well as numerous nationally syndicated radio programs. During our conversation Pete draws on his years of experience working with individuals on their financial needs to cover a range of topics all relating to challenges participants face in saving for retirement.  Most importantly, don’t miss the last several minutes of the podcast where Pete shares some very passionate and inspiring messages for employers about the important role you play in creati

Episode Summary Today's episode is absolutely packed with information for all plan sponsors regardless of the current “cash” or capital preservation strategy in your 401(k) plan.  My guest, Brett Gorman, a SVP at PIMCO Investments and head of their Stable Value business shares valuable information about Money Market Reform and its impact on both plan sponsors and participants.  He also lays out a great roadmap to help plan sponsors reevaluate their capital preservation strategy to find the right mix of principal protection, liquidity and real return.  Be sure to listen for more details on what real return is and why it should be an important factor in your go forward capital preservation strategy.   Guest Bio Mr. Gorman, a CFA Charterholder, is a senior vice president, an account manager in the defined contribution (DC) practice, and head of PIMCO’s stable value business. The PIMCO DC Practice, with over $100 billion of  DC-related assets under management, is dedicated to promoting effective DC plan design an

Episode Summary The new DOL Conflict of Interest Rule, what is also being referred to as the new DOL Fiduciary Rule, has introduced changes that some are calling the most significant since the introduction of ERISA over 40 years ago.  While the rule will have a phased effective date beginning in April 2017, there are multiple items employers should begin exploring now. As usual, Sam does a great job of extracting specific elements of the 1100 page rule that employers should be aware of and provides questions to ask today along with specific next steps.   Guest Bio Sam Henson, is a Vice President and Director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs for Lockton Retirement Services.  Sam also brings a unique perspective to our discussion today as prior to joining Lockton, he spent almost 10 years with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), where he conducted more than 150 civil and criminal investigations of employee retirement and benefits plans, service providers, and

Episode Summary While you might be familiar with the term behavioral finance, you have not heard my guest Stuart Ritter, from T. Rowe Price explain the origins, research and fundamentals behind why it is so important for employers to understand and embrace as they design their retirement plans.  Stuart is a vice president and senior financial planner—designing, building, and implementing guidance and advice services to assist customers in achieving their financial goals. He has appeared on television and radio programs for networks like ABC News, Fox Business, and National Public Radio; and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, Money magazine, and other national news organizations. During our conversation, he shares useful and entertaining stories and analogies to help employers better understand the concepts of behavioral finance and why plan design options such as automatic enrollment and automatic increases are really not as foreign to employ

Episode Summary If you feel like you are spending the “right amount of money” in your retirement plan but not getting the results you expect in either recruiting, retention or employee retirement outcomes, spending more money to get better results doesn’t have to be the answer.  According to my guest, Marc Howell without increasing costs, you could improve all three of those metrics by breaking away from a traditional retirement plan design and moving towards plan design customization. Marc is a Vice President and head of Custom Retirement Solutions with Prudential Financial.  In our conversation he tackles preconceived notions about 401(k) plan design, how employers can deliver retirement benefits with surgical precision to either incentivize or reward employee behavior and how some popular employer contribution strategies are actually setting your employees up for failure in preparing for retirement.  If you have not already subscribed to the podcast, go to iTunes or GooglePlay and search 401(k) Fridays and

Episode Description If you are with a manufacturing company, this is a can’t miss episode.  Be sure to listen for key points specific to manufacturing companies about industry trends that are impacting plan design, plan health and employee retirement readiness.  Also, my guest Scott Francolini shares great advice on how manufacturers can help recruit younger workers and help older workers make a successful and timely transition into retirement.  I hope you enjoy! Guest Bio Scott Francolini is Senior Vice President of Mid/Large Strategic Relationship Management at John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS). He previously held the same role at New York Life Retirement Plan Services, which merged with JHRPS in April 2015. Scott joined our organization in 2009 and has more than 20 years of experience in financial services. He was previously Retirement Practice Lead for our Manufacturing, Materials, and Retail/Distribution industry practice, where he was responsible for establishing its strategic direction and

Episode Description If you are an employer and are at all curious about what’s happening in Washington D.C. that might impact your 401(k) plan, I am happy to report that my guest Joan McDonagh likely covers it in today’s episode!  Our conversation includes: Developments with state run retirement programs The DOL’s proposed Fiduciary Rule  Initiatives to help participants generate lifetime income in retirement plans Tax reform and how it could impact retirement plans Potential impact of the upcoming presidential election on retirement plans Guest Bio Joan is an ERISA attorney with Empower Retirement and has been working with retirement plans for over 30 years.  She is on the Government Relations Committee of the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers (SPARK) and Chairs the Public Policy Committee of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA).  She has written numerous articles and presented a variety of seminars on retirement plan issues.  And, if all t

Episode Summary Conflicts, compensation and reasonableness, what do these three words have in common?  Ok, I ‘ll let you off the hook, these are the key issues at the heart of roughly 90% of the recent 401(k) litigation according to my guest, Jason Roberts ERISA Attorney and Founder of the Pension Resource Institute and the Retirement Law Group.  Jason has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine.  To help employers with those three issues, this episode drills into selecting and monitoring 401(k) service providers, a key fiduciary responsibility and one that is often misunderstood by plan sponsors.  Jason shares strategies to determine fee reasonableness in light of the value, six open ended questions to evaluate service providers and unique insights such as low cost at all cost might not be the best fiduciary protection strategy.  Finally, be sure to stick around for when he alludes to a criminal la

Episode Description Let’s say you were running your 401(k) fiduciary committee meetings wrong, wouldn’t you want someone to tell you?  Luckily, I was able to track down Jason Roberts, ERISA attorney and founder of the Pension Resource Institute to help set the record. straight.  Jason has been repeatedly recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential in Defined Contribution” by the 401(k) Wire and a “Rising Star” by SuperLawyers Magazine.  In this episode you will hear tremendous insights on why you should develop a well balanced and prudent fiduciary process, how current 401(k) litigation is shedding new light on employer fiduciary best practices and finally, why all the time you spend discussing plan investments might not be providing you the protection you have been lead to believe it does.  If you don’t have a pen and paper handy, don’t worry, i have bios, notes, links and a full episode breakdown on the website at www.401kfridays.com.  Without further ado, here we go!  Guest Bio Jason C. Roberts is the F