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The Principal Adds to Fiduciary Compliance Tools

The Principal has added a new resource to its fiduciary package that advisers and third party administrators (TPAs) can use with plan sponsor clients to effectively manage fiduciary responsibilities.
Reported by Rebecca Moore

The new resource, the Annual Fiduciary File, provides a place to record and organize the documents and actions related to the plan to help plan sponsors and investment committees fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. The Annual Fiduciary File includes a catalog of recommended documents plan sponsors may choose to include in the file in order to meet their fiduciary responsibilities, and a log report listing steps for plan sponsors to consider as they begin to document actions related to their fiduciary obligations, according to a press release.

The Principal fiduciary package includes three parts – Get Educated, Get Focused, and Get Started. The package has been reviewed by nationally known ERISA expert Fred Reish, partner and managing director of the law firm of Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen, who says plan sponsors who work with financial professionals and use these tools can be confident they have implemented a system to satisfy ERISA’s most important requirements, according to the release.

The Annual Fiduciary File rounds out the Get Started element of the three-pronged fiduciary package and the other elements include:

  • Get Educated – a reference guide to understanding fiduciary responsibility as defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law governing the management of retirement plans, plus information to help plan sponsors understand how much they and plan participants are paying for investment and administrative services.
  • Get Focused – a step-by-step guide to some of the actions plan sponsors may need to take to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities, when they need to be taken, and what support The Principal provides.

More information can be found at www.principal.com.