CONNECTING WITH SPONSORS
The recent dimissal of the lawsuit against Home Depot is a great conversation for 401(k) prospects and clients!
In the 3rd paragraph of the Oct 5th article, Nevin Adams recaps why Judge Steven D. Grimberg dismissed the suit, noting 6-7 things Home Depot did effectively*:
- Had a committee
- The committee met regularly
- Adopted a written IPS
- Followed the IPS
- Periodically monitored fund performance & fees
- Monitored plan expenses paid from assets (Recordkeeper, TPA)
Plan Sponsors typically lack process because they are busy AND they don't understand process is protection.
Provide Insight To Build Trust. If you're speaking to a sponsor in the small plan market, most Advisors' plan services consist of a periodic report on Fees/Funds plus an annual meeting with the sponsor and employees. By furnishing the sponsor with a comprehensive, practical, actionable, and specific process the sponsor understands and can follow, you'll be providing the sponsor with a clear line of sight on what's important from an oversight perspective.
Introduce Your Process. A simple statement like, 'when I compare Judge Steve D. Grimberg's findings (list) to our proprietary retirement plan Advisory process, you'll see all 6 of the oversight steps are addressed, plus employee education, etc.
Leveraging third-party sources to validate your proprietary process helps you:
- standout from the herd
- build more credibility with key plan clients
- nudge out a competitor
- and a lot more...
Takeaways and suggestions.
1. Furnish/publish your process.
2. Make a habit of validating your process using third-party sources like the Home Depot lawsuit.
3. Compare and contrast your existing services to the list of 7, adapt for the size plans you serve.
4. Add the article as an agenda item to your upcoming meetings.
How will you use the list to win more business, validate your process, build trust?
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Andy Hudson
Source: https://www.napa-net.org/news-info/daily-news/home-depot-hammers-back-excessive-fee-suit
