Joel Shapiro, Senior Vice President, ERISA Compliance for 401(k) Advisors, was recently quoted in a CFO Magazine article regarding pending required plan fee disclosures and anticipated participant reactions thereto (“Lifting the Lid on 401(k) Plan Fees,” December 1, 2011).
“An enormous percentage of plan participants have no idea they’ve been paying fees all along, and many of them will be shocked,” predicts Shapiro.
Shapiro states that while most plans are reasonably priced, he warns that inexperienced plan sponsors who try to administer the plan without an adviser’s help are at risk of having noncompetitive pricing. “For employers that don’t get ahead of this…expect some grumbling.”
Starting in 2012, plan sponsors will begin receiving required disclosures from their service providers in order to determine if their fees are reasonable. This becomes an even more important sponsor exercise when coupled with the 2012 new requirements to disclose certain plan-related information – regarding both fees and investments – to plan participants.
401(k) Advisors is proactively working with our clients to navigate the pending requirements and conduct the necessary preparations. For more information, email help@401kadvisors.com.
