Products January 19, 2016

10 Companies to Receive 2015 PLANADVISER Adviser Choice Awards

PLANADVISER announced today the winners of the second annual Advisers Choice Awards, to be handed out at the annual PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Awards for Excellence dinner March 31. 
Reported by

The Adviser Choice Awards recognize retirement specialist advisers’ most favored investment and recordkeeping providers. 

Ten firms will be honored for their high-ranking performance in four distinct categories taken from the annual PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey. More than 500 retirement plan advisers participated in the survey and provided their picks for their preferred fund families, investment firms, and defined contribution providers, as well as their most recommended mutual funds. 

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

The firms receiving Advisers Choice Awards at the dinner are:

  • American Funds
  • Charles Schwab
  • Empower Retirement
  • Fidelity Investments
  • J.P. Morgan
  • John Hancock
  • Prudential Retirement
  • T. Rowe Price
  • Transamerica Retirement Solutions
  • Vanguard

The survey results were profiled in the November-December 2015 issue of PLANADVISER magazine and on the web at: http://www.planadviser.com/Surveys/The-2015-Retirement-Plan-Adviser-Survey/. 

”Advisers’ opinions are a critical component of investment and plan provider service, and we want to make sure these opinions are heard,” said Alison Cooke Mintzer, Editor in Chief of PLANSPONSOR and PLANADVISER.

The companies will be recognized at the annual PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Awards for Excellence. This networking event celebrates the accomplishments of the best of the best in the retirement plan industry. Each year, the nation’s leading retirement plan sponsors and advisers, as well as the top product, investment and service providers, are honored at this exclusive gathering, hosted at the beautiful Pier 60 in the Chelsea Pier complex overlooking the Hudson River. For more information about the dinner and list of winners, visit: www.plansponsor.com/event/PSPAAwards2016. 

Compliance January 19, 2016

$1.3 Million Awarded to Participants of Abandoned Plan

The DOL has obtained judgment to distribute $1.3 million to participants in a Georgia 401(k) plan.
Reported by

According to allegations by the Department of Labor (DOL), Ants Software Inc. in Dunwoody, Georgia, ceased operating in February 2013. At the time, Rik Sanchez was fiduciary to the Ants Software 401(k) plan. The previous November, Sanchez had been promoted to chief executive of the firm as well as chairman of the board of directors. Sanchez informed Aspire Financial Services Inc., the plan’s third-party administrator, that the plan was being terminated and requested that Aspire distribute plan assets to the plan participants.

Following an investigation conducted by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the agency filed a complaint on July 2, 2015, against Sanchez and Ants alleging that in May 2013, Sanchez used his plan administrative login information to access each plan participant’s profile information and change each participant’s mailing address to Ant’s mailing address. 

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan adviser news.

Sanchez also changed the plan’s new bank account to be an account he controlled, according to the DOL. Because of the change in the participant account information, Aspire refused to distribute plan assets. The complaint alleges that Sanchez requested Aspire to transfer plan management and the assets of the plan to a company named Renowned Holdings Inc., an entity controlled by Sanchez. Again, Aspire refused to proceed with distributing plan assets.

Next, Sanchez stopped administering the plan, leaving plan participants (estimated at 76 people) unable to receive information about their plan funds or gain access to their plan benefits. At that time, the plan had assets totaling approximately $1,383,875.

On January 8, the DOL permanently enjoined the defendants—Sanchez, Ants Software and the Ants Software 401(k) Plan—from engaging in any further violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and permanently bars them from serving as a fiduciary or an employee of any employee benefit plan subject to ERISA.

The DOL’s order appoints, at the defendants’ expense, Receivership Management Inc. of Brentwood, Tennessee, as the independent fiduciary of the plan for the purpose of terminating the plan and distributing its assets to plan participants. The defendants are ordered to pay the expenses of the independent fiduciary.

«