Pooled Employer Plans For Plan Providers.
What you need to know.

It took Moses 40 years to lead the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. It took 8 ½ years to move on from the Department of Labor's (DOL) unfortunate advisory opinion that required Multiple Employer Plans (MEPs) to have commonality among adopting employers in order for it to be considered a single employer plan for ERISA and Form 5500 purposes. The SECURE Act changed that with the creation of a Pooled Employer Plan (PEP). Many people suggest that PEP is the greatest thing since sliced bread, even though it really isn't. While the date for PEPs starts on January 1, this is something you might consider in offering as a plan provider. I'll give you the highs and lows, it's up to you to decide this is something worth getting into.

To read the article, please click here.
The threat of cyber theft from 401(k) accounts is real.
It's a bigger threat

The Matt Hutcheson and Jeff Richies of the world that steals from 401(k) plans where they are the fiduciary will ultimately get caught because when you steal millions, the plan sponsor and other plan providers will notice.

Someone stealing from a participant account can steal a little over time and it might be years before it's discovered. A federal grand jury just indicted someone on charges that he fraudulently obtained access Boeing employees' retirement accounts. The man is accused of stealing this money by making hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of fraudulent money transfers to himself.

Hoa Vo, 30, whose aliases include "Hoa Thanh Tran Vo" and "Andy Vo," of Santa Ana, is charged with three counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

In 2019, Ho Vo obtained the personal identifying information of Boeing employees and information about their retirement accounts. Vo then allegedly made fraudulent withdrawal requests for checks and electronic money transfers totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the VIP accounts of various Boeing employees. Vo then placed holds on these employees' mail with the United States Postal Service.

Once the mail was held, Vo then intercepted the mail by picking it up at the local Post Office. Vo obtained approximately $360,847, the indictment alleges.


It's not 95%.
The fiduciary rule change is not a slam dunk.

Obi-Wan Kenobi once said that only Siths deal in absolutes. Having an ERISA expert saying publicly that there is a 95% that the recently proposed new, new Fiduciary rule (or is it new, new, new?) will be implemented, it's not an absolute, but it's certainly inaccurate. I would say that there is a 95% chance that the new new rule will be implemented when there is a 95% shot that President Trump will be re-elected. Even my old Professor from Stony Brook, Helmut Norpoth, only thinks that there is a 91% chance that Trump will be re-elected and he has a pretty good track record on Presidential predictions.

The point here is that any type of discussion regarding proposed regulations or proposed legislation is that there is so much depending on politics. If Hillary Clinton would have been elected in 2016 like almost everyone predicted (not Norpoth), the Obama era rule would have been implemented and this discussion here would have been moot. This new new rule will live or die based on a certain Presidential election this November. I'm not 95% certain who is winning in November, so I'm not 95% sure about any proposed regulations being implemented after November.

Will in-person enrollment meetings be a thing of the past?
Something to consider.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly put the kibosh on a lot of things in the retirement plan industry such as some of my regional conferences that were scheduled in Houston, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. There have been some changes put forth by the pandemic that are temporary (such as working from home) and I think there are some changes that are going to be permanent.

One of the positive aspects of the pandemic was the ability of the industry to adjust, without any major disruptions. One thing that stood is how online meeting tools such as Zoom and Webexhave made things for all of us in meeting our clients and other providers. I believe that while in-person enrollment meetings won't go the way of disco, but I believe that many providers will push for online meetings after the pandemic concludes because of the cost and time savings through online meetings. Saving in time and travel may benefit plan sponsors in the long run, especially if a plan provider charges the plan sponsor with travel costs. While in-person meetings have that personal touch, plan sponsors and plan providers may opt to continue with online meetings for the savings it comes with.

The future of conferences.
Still up in the air.

With COVID still in full bloom, I'm concerned over the future of national conferences. While NAPA is trying to hold their postponed event from April in September at Universal Studios in Orlando, they have wisely added a virtual feature for those unwilling to travel. As for after without a vaccine completed and ready for COVID-19, I don't know what the future will hold for those large industry events. Contemplating a second That 401(k) National Conference, I'm thinking of a virtual only event to maximize attendance, as well as giving the opportunity for plan providers to attend without having to leave their office. Time will tell.

Need a 3(16) or PEP Provider, call me.
Austin 3(16) Fiduciary Limited, my affiliated fiduciary service is the right call.

If you are looking for an independent 3(16) fiduciary or pooled plan provider, then contact me.

My affiliated Austin 3(16) Fiduciary Limited has been serving in the 3(16) space for 7 years now with over $175 million in assets under administration and growing.

Whether it's a pooled employer plan, multiple employer plan, or a single employer plan, there might be the right fit in a fiduciary solution for your retirement plan practice by hiring me.


Sign up for a bunch of virtual events.
That 401(k) Virtual Conference 6, That 401(k) National Virtual Conference this January.

We know that while many of you are working from home, many of you crave content to help your practice and so many national events have to be cancelled.

So we've decided to take what we have done with the National and Regional events with an online virtual event that is free of charge. Just no lunch, stadium tour, and athlete appearances.

Please join me for the sixth edition of That 401(k) Virtual Conference on Friday, Septs,ber 25th at Noon  EST. Since many of us are returning to the office, this event will be shorter in duration. Recordings of the webinar will be available on demand afterwards. Both the live and recorded events will be free.

To sign up, please click here,

To sponsor the event and speak to plan attendees for 30 minutes, please contact me. It's just $500. Free if you sponsor That 401(k) National Virtual Conference wile slots remain.

You can sign up early for That 401(k) Virtual Conference 7 on Friday, October 23rd at Noon. To sign up, please click here.

To check videos of previous events, click here.


While the inaugural That 401(k) National Conference this past March at Disney World was a lot of fun, it was the last major 401(k) industry event before the COVID-19 turned our world upside down.

Whether the pandemic will abate by 2021 or not, the fact is that business travel is going to be curtailed by many plan providers for the foreseeable future. Thanks to the success of That 401(k) Virtual Conference, it is a no brainer to host an online-only edition of That 401(k) National Virtual Conference Thursday-Friday, January 21-22, 2021.

This virtual event will have it all: great presentations to help grow your 401(k) business and a couple of celebrity guests.

Attending the event for two days will start with an early bird fee of $20.21. There will be a VIP admission for anyone wanting autographs from our celebrity guests.

To sign up to attend, please click here.

For more information, including sponsoring the event, click here. Sponsor the National event in January, get a sponsorship to the smaller Fall events for free, while slots remain.
 
Further details will be divulged over the next few weeks including the signup page.

The next 401(k) Virtual Bunch, our interactive 45 minute Zoom meeting has been a lot of fun in talking with different plan providers on the topic of the day.

The next Virtual Bunch will be this Thursday, September 10th at 4pm EST with guest Ron Stair. To sign up, click here.
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The Rosenbaum Law Firm Advisors Advantage, September 2020
Vol. 11 No. 9

The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.
734 Franklin Avenue, Suite 302
Garden City, New York 11530
516-594-1557
Fax 516-368-3780

 Attorney Advertising.  Prior results do not guarantee similar results. Copyright 2019, The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C. All rights reserved.