Products November 27, 2012

LPL Adds eSignature to Adviser Platform

 

LPL Financial LLC introduced DocuSign’s eSignature solution to its adviser technology platform.

 

 

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The tool is designed to streamline document processing and improve both the client and adviser experience when signing and submitting LPL Financial forms.  eSignature is now available across LPL Financial as part of its BranchNet technology platform at no additional cost to advisers or their clients. 

The tool helps LPL Financial boost productivity and save time by:

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  • Streamlining the account-opening process and reducing document submission turnaround time, which eliminates the need for faxes or mailing;
  • Automatically routing to multiple signers;  
  • Providing automated tracking of pending documents and automated client reminders;
  • Providing the ability to eSign documents on mobile devices anytime, anywhere; and
  • Enhancing auditing and risk management practices.

In compliance with the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National (ESIGN) Commerce Act of 2000, eSignature does not require a “wet ink” signature and is authenticated through an access ID and a knowledge-based authentication process. 

“The launch of DocuSign’s eSignature solution is an important step forward for LPL Financial, our advisers and their clients,” said Christopher Giles, senior vice president of Advisor-Facing Technology at LPL Financial. “As a simple example, LPL Financial currently receives about 4 million faxes a year, and eSignature could dramatically reduce that amount, resulting in a significant savings in paper, paperwork and office-keeping tasks.”

 

Data & Research November 27, 2012

Retirement Plan Participation Rates Stalled

In 2011, the percentage of workers participating in an employment-based retirement plan was essentially unchanged from a year earlier.
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Specifically, the percentage of all workers—including part-year, part-time, and self-employed—participating in an employment-based retirement plan moved from 39.6% in 2009, to 39.8% in 2010, to 39.7% in 2011, according to data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

A report in the November 2012 EBRI Issue Brief explains that the type of employment has a major impact on retirement plan participation rates. Among full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 21 to 64, 53.7% participated. However, this rate varies significantly across different worker characteristics and the characteristics of their employers.

Being non-white, younger, female, never married; having lower educational attainment, lower earnings, poorer health status, no health insurance through own employer; not working full-time, full-year, and working in service occupations or farming, fisheries, and forestry occupations were all associated with a lower level of participation in a retirement plan. Workers in the South and West were less likely to participate in a plan than those in other regions of the country.

The overall percentage of females participating in a plan was lower than that of males, but when controlling for work status or earnings, the female participation level actually surpassed that of males. The retirement plan participation gender gap significantly closed from 1987 to 2009 before slightly widening in 2010 and 2011.  

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Hispanics born outside the United States had substantially lower participation levels than native-born Hispanics, even when controlling for age and earnings. This makes it seem Hispanics as a group lag significantly in terms of retirement plan participation, even though only the non-native Hispanics actually have participation levels substantially below those of all other workers.

The report, “Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2011,” is at www.ebri.org.

 

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