Products August 23, 2011

LPL Releases Enhanced Version of RFP Tool

LPL Financial has released an enhanced proprietary version of SearchPro, a Web-based qualified plan provider search and benchmarking tool.
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SearchPro allows advisers to benchmark a current or prospective qualified retirement plan against a universe of more than 100 plan provider products.  Advisers can choose from a selection of more than 50 criteria based on sponsor’s specific needs in the areas of investment selection, customer service, and systems technology, among other factors.

The tool is being offered exclusively to advisers served by the company’s retirement plan-focused division, LPL Financial Retirement Partners.

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LPL said SearchPro has been developed through a partnership between LPL Financial Retirement Partners and subsidiaries of Asset International, Inc., the parent company of PLANADVISER, and is a private-labeled version of Asset International’s Pathfinder 2.0 tool.

The SearchPro tool allows advisers to:

  • Access LPL Financial proprietary investment research, covering thousands of fund managers and 20,000+ mutual funds, from anywhere with an Internet connection;
  • Customize provider searches based on integrated scoring methodology developed by LPL Financial Retirement Partners in concert with Pathfinder 2.0’s best-match scoring and PLANSPONSOR’s provider satisfaction survey;
  • Conduct due diligence for existing plan sponsor clients to benchmark detailed fee and services breakdowns (investment, compensation, and plan costs, including TPA costs) and plan offerings against other service providers
  • Complete personalized RFP responses in connection with replacement searches, with the ability to incorporate multiple adviser profiles (when working independently or within a group).

Bill Chetney, executive vice president of LPL Financial Retirement Partners, said, “Plan sponsors today demand more independence and unbiased knowledge from their plan advisers, and the completely re-architected SearchPro platform underscores our commitment to meeting the provider search and benchmarking needs of our advisers, and to acting in the best interests of the organizations and plan participants they serve.”
 

Compliance August 23, 2011

Settlement Reached in ESOP Fiduciary Breach Suit

L.A. Times employees of media company Tribune who sued over the 2007 Sam Zell-led takeover of the company have won a $32 million settlement.
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The settlement was made with GreatBanc Trust, the trustee for Tribune Company’s employee stock ownership plan. 

In March, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois refused to cap damages against GreatBanc Trust Co. for purchasing $250 million in unregistered shares from Tribune Co. rather than buying Tribune stock on the open market in the first stage of the $8-billion deal that bankrupted the media conglomerate.   

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In December 2009, Pallmeyer dismissed claims against several Tribune board members, ruling they had delegated their fiduciary duty to Greatbanc, and moved forward claims against the trustee (see “Tribune ESOP Fiduciary Breach Suit Moves Forward“). Last year, the judge also relieved Zell of liability in the suit. 

Six workers filed the suit alleging that the buyout deal was imprudent because of the great amount of debt Tribune took on. The company filed for bankruptcy protection about a year after the buyback, and it was announced that the ESOP would be terminated.

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