"The reason we wanted to form this organization is that retirement plan advisors, those on the advising end of the business and are typically closest to plan sponsors never really had their own voice in Washington," said NAPA President Marcy Supovitz of Boulay Donnelly & Supovitz Consulting Group, Inc. in Worcester, Mass.

With numerous issues that would be of interest to financial advisors cropping up on the Hill, ASPPA believed now was a good time to move forward with NAPA. "There are ongoing issues surrounding who is a fiduciary and what their fiduciary role is and around fee disclosure at the plan participant level and the sponsor level," Supovitz said. "The most major issue coming forth is keeping tax breaks for retirement savings."

NAPA is in favor of keeping the upfront tax deduction. One plan being discussed in Washington is to tax those plans upfront so they can come out tax free on the other side. "There are many proposals and no certainty which ones will move forward. NAPA will weigh in on those issues," she said. "Advisors are on the front lines of dealing with sponsors and plan participants every day. They really have great perspectives on how important these incentives are."

401(k) plans are important in helping the average person save for retirement. "There's this perception that higher paid people are the only ones taking advantage of these plans, but that doesn't prove out with the numbers," Supovitz said. "It is the number one way to help people who aren't so high paid to save for retirement. Does that mean there aren't ways to improve the system? Not at all, but there is absolute proof that that is the number one way to help the average person save."

NAPA also is in favor of transparency and the rules surrounding fee disclosure. As the debate over that rule is implemented continues, NAPA will look into what makes sense to participants and plan sponsors and find ways to make things more understandable, she said.

She added that there has never been a professional society focused exclusively on advisors who work in the retirement plan market.

"Beyond advocacy, which is certainly a major goal of our organization, [NAPA] will also offer its members a lot in the way of business intelligence, education and networking," she said.

Supovitz has been in the industry for 30 years, focusing primarily on plans in the $5 million to $50 million range.

Plan Sponsor Council of America

The PSCA is one of the oldest organizations in the United States focused on plan sponsors of profit sharing and defined contribution retirement plans.

Founded in 1947 as the Council of Profit Sharing Industries, the association has grown and evolved as new rules and tools have been introduced, including the Employment Retirement Income Security Act and the introduction of the 401(k) plan, said Robert Benish, chief operating officer of the PSCA. In 1971, PSCA became the Profit Sharing Council of America and was instrumental in the development of ERISA. In 1993, it changed its name to the Profit Sharing/401K Council of America.

The council now represents many other types of plans besides the 401(k), including 403(b), 457 and 401(a) plans, he said, so it decided to change its name again, but "we couldn't continue to add letters to our name. We also conducted a strategic planning initiative two years ago, which started the modern era of PSCA. Based upon our membership and where we were from a policy standpoint, we decided to move from a policy-focused trade association to a bottom line business focus," he said. "We're not as worried about the saving system but how to more effectively manage plans through best practices."

Since most people know the organization by its PSCA brand, the council decided to use the same letters but change the name to broaden the scope of the organization, he said.

In the past year, the council has tried to develop new added value programs, Benish said. It added an online multipart self-study fiduciary training program. It also formed a strategic partnership with Hueler Income Solutions to offer its plan sponsor members access to a Web-based annuity purchasing option. It enables PSCA members to provide their retiring employees, who are interested in investigating the benefits of a fixed payment stream, with access to a web-based annuity purchasing option.

The organization also has broadened its reach by expanding the number of regional conferences it hosts. It now offers smaller regional conferences that alternate between New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

"We feel very strongly about the defined contribution industry. We feel very strongly that our retirement system is in good shape and we will do whatever we can to support our members to strive for best practices," Benish said.

The biggest issue facing plan sponsors right now is the impact of fee disclosure. "We need to be reactive to what is happening. We are certainly supportive of fee disclosure. Once that regulation is finalized, we will continue to support that effort and help plan sponsors work with providers and participants in communicating it effectively," he said.

PSCA has 1,200 member companies ranging in size from one- or two-person consulting firms to large companies like McDonald's. "That is one of our strengths. We are not representing just a small segment of the plan sponsor community. We represent small, medium and large companies," Benish said.