Is private equity on its way to 401(k) plans? What actually is private equity? How could this work? What is the investment need that is not being filled? We discuss all of this and more with Doug Keller, Head of Private Wealth and Defined Contribution at the private equity firm Pantheon. Coincidentally, Doug and his firm were also one of the private equity firms to request the information letter from the Department of Labor that has been making headlines and prompting a lot of questions. I learn...
Jul 10, 2020•1 hr 2 min
With the COVID related volatility in the financial markets and the impact on employees and businesses, one question lingering in the back of employers minds has been, am I more likely to be the target of a 401(k) lawsuit now? To answer this and some other topical questions that have come up, I am excited to welcome back Carl Engstrom, a 401(k) plaintiff’s attorney with Nichols Kaster. Carl and his firm have numerous lawsuits against retirement plan sponsors and to date have garnered over $150 mi...
Jul 03, 2020•1 hr 6 min
Recently, there has been a lot of money, trillions of dollars, pumped into the markets and economy. What is the impact on inflation, how could this impact the broader markets, what do near zero interest rates mean? To tackle this and much more, I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, a Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments. Rich brings some great stories, ability to break down complex topics and make them understandable and a f...
Jun 26, 2020•57 min
Student debt or student loans has been a hot topic and a challenge for millions for several years now. So much so that employers are now including some type of student loan assistance in their benefits program or even their 401(k) plan. There was also a provision in the CARES Act which addressed what employers can do to help employees who have student debt. To chat about this and more, I am excited to welcome Romy Parzick, the CEO of Vault to the podcast. During our conversation, she effortlessl...
Jun 19, 2020•48 min
This week, I am happy to share my conversation with Tom Clark, ERISA Attorney and COO of the Wagner Law Group! Tough to put a nice bow around this one, as we delved into a host of issues retirement plan sponsors face in the wake of COVID and as people start planning for their businesses to reopen. We hit on plan design issues, employee education, fiduciary considerations and much more. Tom has been a regular guest on the podcast, had to go back and confirm but this was his fifth episode on the p...
May 29, 2020•1 hr 9 min
This week I had a timely conversation with a new guest, Chris Anast, CFA, and Senior Vice President, Senior Retirement Strategist with the Retirement Strategy Group at American Funds, part of Capital Group. We focus mostly on the paper he authored with DCIIA about the " Five Practical Barriers to Better Retirement Outcomes .” Interestingly, this was released shortly after the world was turned on its ear with the COVID pandemic. While I wont’ steal his thunder on the five practical barriers, I wi...
May 15, 2020•1 hr 1 min
One common question amongst employers during the COVID-19 pandemic has been how their employees have been reacting in their 401(k) plans. To delve through this, I am excited to welcome back Josh Dietch, VP of Retirement Thought Leadership at T. Rowe Price. During our conversation, we hit on a few of the obvious thinks like stats around investment and contribution changes, but quickly delve into some of the bigger challenges retirement savers face as a result of recent events. Josh also shares so...
May 08, 2020•58 min
Have questions about where the financial markets are today, interested in how things could unfold as the world re-opens? We cover this and more with my guest Frances Donald, a Managing Director, and Global Chief Economist & Global Head of Macroeconomic Strategy for Manulife Investment Management. In her role, Frances forecasts global macroeconomic and financial trends, analyzes the economy and capital markets for potential opportunities and risks, and serves as a thought leader both within t...
Apr 24, 2020•1 hr 8 min
I hope this episode finds you safe and healthy during these crazy times. This episode had a lot of twists and turns to get to you. My guest today, Sherrie Boutwell, ERISA Attorney with Boutwell Fay and I had planned this originally as a conversation about some of the trickier distribution scenarios employers face and what to do about them. As things unfolded, we felt it would be helpful to include some commentary on the new COVID related distribution and loan options. So, we start with COVID rel...
Apr 17, 2020•1 hr 4 min
I hope this episode finds you safe and healthy in these unprecedented times. There are a lot of questions about coronavirus, the new CARES Act, the bear market. All of these moving parts also brings up inevitable concern in the back of many employers heads, will we be sued over how we have handled our 401(k) plan during this time in the future? To help wade through this I am happy to welcome back David Levine, ERISA Attorney with Groom Law Group to the podcast. He shares his perspectives on admi...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 7 min
I hope this episode finds you safe and healthy! While there is no specific Coronavirus talk today, the concept of managed accounts could get a boost once the dust settles in the financial markets. To help us navigate things I am excited to welcome back David Blanchett, who is the head of retirement research for Morningstar Investment Management. We touch on many of the basics of managed accounts, then look at how they compare to TDFs, roboadvice, and how they are currently offered in workplace r...
Apr 03, 2020•55 min
If you are looking for a great conversation about the realities, challenges and opportunities for individuals on their journey to retirement, this is the episode for you. If you want information and perspectives on the coronavirus, hold onto that thought for a minute. This episode features my conversation with Katherine Roy, Managing Director, Chief Retirement Strategist and Head of Individual Retirement for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. During our conversation we hit on many of the key points a...
Mar 27, 2020•1 hr 14 min
This episode is a first in nearly, 200 episodes. We don't have a guest. With as quickly as the financial markets, business conditions and the economy are changing I thought it might be helpful to share some timely information. My commentary is derived from a recent webinar I hosted and covers a brief update on the financial markets, ideas to communicate with employees, process to suspend your match, plan administrative questions and fiduciary considerations. We have also have a second episode th...
Mar 27, 2020•52 min
In this unprecedented economic and market environment it is more important than ever for employers and their retirement service partners to work well together. This week I am excited to welcome back Tom Kmak, the CEO of Fiduciary Benchmarks to share his perspectives. Tom has a great message that is simple in concept but not always followed by employers or their service partners. We also delve into his forward looking thoughts around the effectiveness of workplace retirement plans, creating retir...
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Volatility, is an understatement when describing current conditions in the financial markets. To help interpret some recent events and offer thoughts on where we go from here, I am excited to welcome back Scott Kimball, CFA who is a Portfolio Manager with BMO Asset Management. During our conversation he shares very level headed thoughts on what triggered one of the quickest corrections in the stock market we have seen, the rationale for the rapid decline in interest rates, the driving force behi...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Managed accounts have been around for a while in workplace retirement plans. However, according to my guest Jason Roberts, the founder and chief executive officer of the Pension Resource Institute, a consulting firm that delivers compliance, training and technology-based solutions to financial institutions and plan fiduciaries, we are on the verge of major transition to managed accounts 2.0 which will have benefits and implications for retirement plans, employers and plan participants. We logica...
Feb 28, 2020•1 hr 16 min
Originally, this was going to be a cyber episode, but based on a recent conversation with plaintiff’s attorney Jerry Schlichter and some subsequent litigation, thought it might be good to expand our horizons to include employee data. My guest today, Jenny Eller, Principal and co-head of the Fiduciary Practice at Group Law Group brings her experience and perspective to the conversation. We first dive into the data side of the conversation with some general thoughts on the business practices aroun...
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Despite the divisiveness in our government right now, they were able to get things together and bring us the SECURE Act, arguably the most significant retirement legislation in over a decade. Today, my guest & I, Bob Holcomb, Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs at Empower Retirement, discuss how this came back from the dead, this significance for employers and employees, and much more. We dive into new retirement income provisions, multiple employer plans, the new concept of...
Feb 07, 2020•57 min
The last decade came to a close with us in the midst of a bull market in for the ages, while that was great, what's next? Will the good times continue to roll? Or, will the 2020’s be a lost decade for returns? Or something in between? To help chew on this, I was happy to welcome back Rob Arnott, Chairman of Research Affiliates to the podcast. If you are not familiar with Rob, despite his fancy titles, he plays an active role in the firm’s research, portfolio management, product innovation, busin...
Jan 31, 2020•55 min
My now annual conversation with Jerry Schlichter, plaintiffs attorney with Schlichter Bogard & Denton has been one of the more popular episodes on the 401(k) Fridays podcast. This year was one of our best and most forward looking. In case you are not familiar with Jerry and his work in successfully brining 401(k) or ERISA litigation against employers, he has a pretty impressive track record. He burst onto the scene with a flurry of litigation in 2006 and to date he has secured settlements of...
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Welcome back to another year and another decade of the 401(k) Fridays Podcast! Sorry for the delay in getting new episodes out, had some last minute scheduling challenges along with sickness that got us off track. Don’t fear though, we are back and ready for an exciting 2020! To kick things off, I am excited to welcome back Andrew Biggs, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute to the podcast. As a retirement policy expert and researcher he brings a sober perspective of how our private work...
Jan 17, 2020•58 min
While every industry has its own unique characteristics, not every industry has enough of them related to retirement plans to deserve a special report or podcast episode to discuss them. Healthcare though, is one of those industries which does. To dive into the topic I was excited to welcome back to the podcast Brodie Wood, National Practice leader for Healthcare, Education and Not-for-Profit markets at Voya Financial. We quickly jump into multiple hot topics such as outcomes based approaches, f...
Dec 13, 2019•48 min
In a somewhat related follow-on to our conversation last week about the long term impact of automatic enrollment, today we tackle the emerging auto concept of auto portability. My guest, Spencer Williams, Founder & CEO of Retirement Clearing House has been intimately involved in the process to get this off the ground and available in a workplace retirement plan near you! As you might expect, we discuss what auto portability is, the retirement challenges it intends to solve, how it differs fr...
Dec 06, 2019•59 min
Automatic enrollment has been a regular theme on the podcast, in fact when I first launched the podcast I got a little worried because we seemed to hit on it in nearly every episode regardless of the topic. Today, I am excited to welcome back Josh Dietch, a Vice President with T. Rowe Price and the group manager of Retirement Thought Leadership. Without stealing too much of his thunder, Josh and his team have just released a very interesting and thought provoking report called “ Auto-Enrollment’...
Nov 22, 2019•54 min
When we get to tackle new topics and shed some light where there is confusion, that get’s me really excited. Regardless of what state you live in, this is timely and relevant as we tackle cannabis companies and their unique challenge of setting up 401(k) plans. My guest, Jewell Lim Esposito an ERISA Attorney with FisherBroyles has specific hands on experience working with companies in the cannabis, hemp, cbd space. She shares some of the challenges they face in setting up 401(k) plans for their ...
Nov 15, 2019•55 min
We revisit our sponsor spotlight theme on the podcast this week! Tony Tomich, the Head of Pension Investments at Farmers Insurance® shares some great perspective on the company and their retirement plan. We had fun digging into how their plan works, how it helps with recruiting and retaining talent, how decisions are made and much more. One major theme we dig into is the concept of retirement readiness and retirement income. Both hot topics in their own right and really impactful to hear how Ton...
Nov 08, 2019•59 min
The business of being in the 401(k) business has been one of our more popular themes on the podcast. Today, should be no different. My guest Tim Wulfekuhle, President of Northwest Plan Services and I dive into the topic of independent recordkeepers. We start with some thoughts about different types or categories of recordkeepers, what the litmus test for an independent recordkeeper is, how in a rapidly changing environment for service providers they are positioned and what does scale mean. Tim a...
Nov 01, 2019•53 min
Today we have a little fun, I am excited to welcome back J.D. Carlson who by day is the President & CEO of Plan Design Consultants, a Third Party Administration firm and by night is a YouTube sensation as one fourth of the Retireholiks. Our conversation is a follow-up to one we had on the podcast last year where we tackled some tricky workplace retirement terms to either decipher some industry jargon, declare they are pure Gibberish or if they are real terms or concepts that can be confused ...
Oct 18, 2019•1 hr 13 min
When you listen to this episode, some of what we talk about might not directly impact you if you are not a caregiver. However, as you will hear the odds are someone you know, work with or is a client likely is. My guest today, Bill Harmon, President of Corporate Retirement Markets at Voya Financial and a caregiver himself, talks candidly about how to define caregiver, the challenges they face in the workforce, how employers can help and why introducing more support for caregivers in the workplac...
Oct 11, 2019•52 min
Interest rates could be a significant risk to retirement savers that is hiding in plain sight. During my conversation with Mike Barry, President of O3 Advisory Services, we connect a lot of dots on how low interest rates could impact the retirement of current and future retirees. We also hit on several reasons why interest rates have been trending lower, whether student debt plays into the conversation and why employers who are even considering pursuing a retirement income strategy should think ...
Sep 27, 2019•57 min
