By Bill Karsten, Senior Consultant at PlanPILOT
Investment oversight and plan governance play important roles in returns on investment and can impact employee retirement readiness. In this case study, we show an example of how an independent advisor can illuminate opportunities to improve outcomes and drive greater engagement.
By Mark Olsen, Managing Director at PlanPILOT
When it came time for me to choose a career path, I knew that whatever job I pursued needed to be in line with my passions. Most importantly, I wanted to serve others; to help people in a tangible way and add value to their lives. Working in the financial world checked both of those boxes, and now, more than 25 years later, I’m still just as passionate about what I do!
By Mark Olsen, Senior Consultant at PlanPILOT
What one word would you use to describe 2020? Painful? Unexpected? Worrisome? Uncomfortable? It’s been all those things and more, but trials also bring about opportunities if you are willing to look for them. We acknowledge that the challenges and opportunities 2020 has presented extend well beyond your retirement plan, and we’d like to be a resource however we can.That’s why we are hosting an online interactive client workshop on November 18th from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. CST to help you become comfortable with everything in life causing discomfort right now. Jason Barnaby of Firestarters Inc. and PlanPILOT’s senior consultant, Mark Olsen, will show us how to pivot so you can finish 2020 strong and start 2021 even stronger.
There is no single, preset approach to designing an investment menu for defined contribution retirement plans. Accordingly, there are a plethora of highly contested ideas and theories around menu construction and how to maximize the value to participants through the plan’s investment offerings. One of the most prominent, and often most polarizing, menu design considerations is the superiority of active or passive management for plan investments. With a fundamental understanding of how active vs passive investing approaches work, as well as the pros and cons of each, plan sponsors can make more informed decisions in their menu construction.
According to the Callan Institute, an employee benefits research and investment consultancy group, the issue of high concern for defined contribution plan sponsors is that of retirement plan fees. Specifically noted in Callan’s 2019 Defined Contribution Trends Survey, plan sponsors have identified for the third year in a row that improvements in their fiduciary standing comes from a robust and thorough review of retirement plan fees.