New Resource Center to Help Plan Sponsors Comply with Participant Disclosure

* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.

Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:51am EST

New Resource Center to Help Plan Sponsors Comply with Participant Disclosure

The Principal unveils new online hub for financial professionals and their clients ahead of disclosure deadlines

Most employers who offer retirement plans won’t need to begin complying with a new Department of Labor participant disclosure regulation until May 2012. However, it isn’t too early to begin getting ready. To give plan sponsors a head start, the Principal Financial Group® has created the ERISA 404(a) Participant Disclosure Regulation Resource Center.

The one-stop-hub offers information and resources to help financial professionals and their clients prepare and take action to meet the requirements of the new regulation.

“Even though plan sponsors won’t need to start providing this information for another six months, we know it is important to them to understand what they’ll need to do now,” said Greg Burrows, senior vice president, retirement and investor services at The Principal®. “The Resource Center gives sponsors what they need to get started. Financial professionals can use this time to get ahead of the competition and start having conversations with clients and prospects.”

The new Participant Disclosure Regulation Resource Center provides:

  • An overview of the ERISA 404(a) participant disclosure regulation
  • Step-by-step instructions for when and how to take action
  • Details on disclosures plan sponsors are required to provide and what The Principal is doing to help
  • A tool to help sponsors create a disclosure reference guide describing their plan’s compliance dates
  • Materials to communicate with and educate employees

The Resource Center is the latest tool from The Principal to help make it easier for plan sponsors to provide required disclosures to participants. Other resources will include revamped enrollment kits, new annual notices about plan fees and investments, a new easy to understand investment comparison chart and modifications to the participant web site and quarterly participant statements to display fees in dollars.

Disclosure from provider to plan sponsor
The Principal has already begun complying with the new DOL regulation on service provider disclosures to plan sponsors—well in advance of the deadline. The Principal began delivering a redesigned and streamlined summary of fees to new clients in July and existing clients November 1, 2011. Other changes from The Principal include:

  • An interactive services webpage that helps plan sponsors review at-a-glance services available and used by the plan
  • An online disclosure landing page where plan sponsors can find the required information in one place

Ongoing education and resources
The Principal has been offering in-depth education and information since the regulations were unveiled, including:

  • An online information center dedicated to the disclosure regulations
  • A website specifically for financial professionals focusing on disclosure regulations
  • Two white papers authored by noted ERISA experts at Davis & Harman, LLP
  • Webinars for financial professionals and plan sponsors

For more news and insights from The Principal, connect with us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ThePrincipal.

About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)1 is a global investment management leader including retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management. The Principal offers businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement, asset management and insurance through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in 1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal Financial Group has $320.8 billion in assets under management2 and serves some 17.8 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 September 30, 2011.

The Principal Financial Group
Terri Hale, 515-283-8858
hale.terri@principal.com
or
Jaime Naig, 515-247-0798
naig.jaime@principal.com

Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.