Lincoln’s Director Program Adds QDIA Option

PMFM, Inc. and Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) announced that the Lincoln Director retirement program will now offer the managed accounts services of 401k Toolbox’s Manage It For Me as a QDIA.

The QDIA provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 provides employers a safe harbor from fiduciary risk when selecting an investment for a participant or beneficiary who fails to elect his or her own investment (see Building a Better Default). Last month, PMFM announced a similar arrangement with Mutual of Omaha (see Mutual of Omaha Adds Managed Account Feature).

Advisory Services

Investment advisory services for 401k Toolbox are provided by PMFM, Inc., an independent registered investment adviser headquartered in Watkinsville, Georgia. 401k Toolbox will provide plan participants with access to software tools available on the Web site and direct telephone access to trained specialists to help with investment advice and financial planning. PMFM offers separate account management services, proprietary mutual funds, and is the advisory firm to 401k Toolbox. As of September, PMFM manages approximately $1 billion in assets.

According to the announcement, the 401k Toolbox fee-based service utilizes active account management, defaulting participants into one of the five age-based portfolios. When market conditions change, the holdings of these portfolios adjust accordingly, with the long-term objective of participating in the market’s good times, and protecting assets during the bad ones, according to the firm.

“With today’s market volatility, employers need a trusted third-party partner to help manage potential risk for their employees,” said Cindy King, head of product for Defined Contributions, Retirement Solutions, Lincoln Financial Group. “With 401k Toolbox as the QDIA, employers who use our Lincoln Director program will help their employees have a safeguard for their retirement assets as well as objective investment advice to help them plan for the road ahead.”