The Principal announced this week that it is rolling out revised materials with fee disclosures for its plan sponsors ahead of the U.S. Department of Labor's fee disclosure deadline of April 1, 2012.
"We're going above and beyond the requirements by delivering revised disclosures to plan sponsors ahead of time in easy-to-use formats, which gives them peace of mind," said Greg Burrows, senior vice president of retirement and investor services at The Principal. "Most of our revised materials were ready last spring. We're rolling them out to plan sponsors now after spending the past several months educating them about what to expect. Our goal is to make sure sponsors understand the fees they are paying for the services they are receiving so they can fulfill their fiduciary duties."
The Principal began delivering the redesigned and streamlined fee summary to new clients in July and started unveiling it to existing clients on Nov. 1. The new summary displays the most important information on the first two pages, as requested by financial professionals and plan sponsors.
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"While we were already providing most of this information, we held focus groups and conducted interviews with plan sponsors and financial professionals to improve how we delivered it—making sure disclosures are clear, meaningful and easy to find," said Burrows. "When we tested the revised fee summary with financial professionals, over 90 percent said it was exceptional; giving it high marks for clarity and ease in locating the key information."
The Principal also launched an online disclosure page where sponsors can find required information on investments, fees, fiduciary status and services in one place. This site is not required by the current interim final regulation, but The Principal developed it to make it even easier for plan sponsors and financial professionals to access information.
The Department of Labor also has issued a regulation changing how plan sponsors communicate fees and investments to participants. While the first compliance date for most sponsors is in May of 2012, The Principal already has made a number of changes to make it easier for plan sponsors to comply and will unveil a new online participant disclosure resource center in mid-November.
The Principal has been offering in-depth education and information since the regulations were unveiled, including:
- A dedicated online resource center
- A website specifically for financial professionals
- Two white papers by ERISA experts at Davis & Harman, LLP
- Webinars for financial professionals and plan sponsors
The Principal Financial Group is a global investment manager that offers retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management.
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