Page 2 - Tim Rouse News Today

Observations from attendees of the RPA Edge Record Keepers Think Tank.

Studies find differences in 403(b) and 401(k) plan design and participant behavior, but both plan types are increasing in importance for employees.

Firm announces it was the target of a ransomware attack in early March.

Record keepers are sharing information, best practices and other protection efforts with their peers to prevent cyberattacks.

Data security concerns force the DC industry to cooperate The recent Government Accountability Office report and even more recent Department of Labor guidance on cybersecurity hammer home the reality that protecting plan and especially participant data has become a fiduciary responsibility. May 5, 2021 3 MINS The defined-contribution industry is at a crossroads. Record keepers, advisers and money managers often compete in winner-takes-all battles, but to serve and protect ...

DOL’s cybersecurity tips were needed, but 401(k)s shouldn’t ask much from participants A system built around inaction shouldn’t expect people to become more involved with it, or much less bear responsibility for keeping their accounts safe. May 3, 2021 4 MINS Odds are, your personal information — including Social Security number, birth date and financial account numbers — have been compromised and sold on the dark web, multiple times. That means that all that mig...

Seeing an unknown charge on your credit card is so common these days that many people shrug it off. When money is stolen from your 401(k) account, there is less recourse and more cause for concern. Federal law limits consumer liability for fraudulent credit- and debit-card charges. But there is no similar protection for retirement accounts, where many people have saved a lot more money than in bank accounts. When it comes to theft from retirement accounts, 401(k) record-keepers say family membe...

Aliya Robinson said online searches for participants with common names is problematic for employers. Newly issued guidance from the Department of Labor offers retirement plan fiduciaries a list of best practices for locating missing participants and insight into how it approaches investigations on the matter, but left stakeholders wanting more and expressing concerns about the process. "Its nice that the department released a list of things that theyve identified as best practices, but its frus...

401(k) record keepers bullish on post-COVID opportunities Industry consolidation, financial wellness, data and new ways to work in the pandemic reality were among things on attendees minds at the latest RPA event December 21, 2020 3 MINS Of the various segments of the defined-contribution industry, record keepers are the most mature, consolidated and powerful. Advisers are closer to the clients, but record keepers own the data and provide the platform to reach them. Leader...

Why some 401(k)s seldom change providers Record keepers lament the tendency for many plans to stay put, but big 401(k)s are often priced so low that no one bids for them December 21, 2020 2 MINS Retirement plans are increasingly slow to change providers, and that is becoming a challenge for the record-keeping industry, said guests at the RPA Convergence Record Keeper Roundtable and Think Tank. Across plans of all sizes, advisers and consultants can have little incentive to...