New Tool Simplifies Reporting Fair Value Measurement of Retirement Plan Assets
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The Principal Automates Complex Process DES MOINES, Iowa--(Business Wire)-- Employers who sponsor retirement plans have long been required to understand and measure the fair value of their plan assets. This year they are required to take it a step further by documenting how they do it. The Principal Financial Group® has unveiled an online, user-friendly tool to automate the process and help make it easier for employers to comply with the new rules. The Fair Value Measurement Analysis Tool helps financial professionals and their plan sponsor clients better understand and comply with ERISA fair value requirements and Financial Accounting Standards No. 157 (FAS 157). FAS-157 requires more disclosures on retirement plan financial statements about how the fair value of plan assets has been determined. "The Department of Labor holds plan sponsors responsible for reviewing, understanding and confirming the fair value of their retirement plan assets. For the first time, plan sponsors must also formally document those processes," said Jacque Mohs, vice president of Retirement and Investor Services at The Principal®. "Our new proprietary tool is a simple, step-by-step approach to both valuation and disclosure." Mohs says financial professionals and their clients are keenly interested in the tool, with more than 700 attendees at a recent Webcast demonstration. The user-friendly tool walks financial professionals and their clients through the following Fair Value Measurement steps: * Education about FAS 157 requirements and plan sponsor fiduciary responsibility * Performing the fair value analysis * FAS 157 disclosures * Printing and filing valuation information The Fair Value Measurement Analysis Tool, which is available to plan sponsor clients of The Principal at no additional cost, is the latest in a comprehensive set of resources to help financial professionals and their clients meet several new reporting requirements. They include: * An in-depth review of Value and Reporting of Retirement Plan Assets-FAS No. 157 * A white paper: The Road to Transparency: Form 5500 Annual Reporting, 403(b) Plans and Fair Value Measurements (FAS 157) * An easy-to-use Form 5500 Quick Reference Guide * A plain language fiduciary handbook: Understanding and Managing Fiduciary Responsibility About the Principal Financial Group The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance, and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $236.6 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 18.8 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com. 1 "The Principal Financial Group" and "The Principal" are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member of the Principal Financial Group. 2 As of March 31, 2009 The Principal Financial Group Terri Hale, 515-283-8858 hale.terri@principal.com or Jaime Naig, 515-247-0798 naig.jaime@principal.com Copyright Business Wire 2009
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