Mike and I had a great conversation with Brian Graff, the Executive Director/CEO of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA). We are looking forward to catching up with Brian when we visit Washington DC later this year to meet with other key stakeholders in the private pension system. Ryan, Brian and Mike during a break at the …
After more than a year of work we are proud to announce that BrightScope.com is now in public beta. Dan, Mike and I will be at the Hilton Hotel in Universal City all day tomorrow at the Los Angeles Benefits Conference for our launch. We look forward to seeing everyone there. I will also be live blogging throughout the day …
I spent some time digging through the public comments to the rule proposed by the DOL on 12/13/2008 relating to Regulation 408(b)(2). The comments paint a very clear picture about where individual firms and industry trade groups fall on each side of the debate. The battle lines have been drawn along the lines of economic interest. Participants, independent fiduciaries, independent/fee-based …
BrightScope believes that a healthy dose of transparency can do a world of good for the 401k market. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” With complete information on fees and service provider conflicts of interest, plan sponsors and participants can make more informed decisions. Fortunately for believers in transparency the new Obama administration …
The Fi360 blog is reporting that the DOL is expected to withdraw 408(b)(2) and the regulations on participant disclosures. For those not familiar with 408(b)(2), it is the proposed Department of Labor regulation that aims to provide more effective disclosure of indirect compensation by plan service providers. The withdrawal of the regulation would be a significant development, though I would …
Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal ran an article about the trend towards additional nutritional labeling in grocery stores and restaurants. According to the article, many grocery chains are adding their own health labels to supplement the labels that are found on the products themselves. As a consumer I think this trend is a good thing. While I don’t …
BrightScope is excited to announce its full launch date will be Thursday, January 29th. On that day everyone will have full access to www.BrightScope.com. If you just can’t wait until January 29th please visit www.BrightScope.com today and sign up for the private beta. While we can’t guarantee access to everyone before our full launch date, we will try our best …
Consider this post the first in an ongoing series on some of the best and most innovative 401k plans that we have found. There are many plans that could justifiably be called the top plan in their peer group but there is one plan that has stood out far above the rest: The Savings Plan of the Saudi Arabian Oil …
Today’s Wall Street Journal featured an article on 401k plans entitled “Big Slide in 401(k)’s Spurs Calls for Change.” The article broadly covered the issue of declining 401k balances without going into many details about actual proposals to reform the system. While the article may have lacked substance, the 401k issue is clearly resonating with readers. As of the end …