Council Supports Distribution Advice for Retirement Plan Participants

March 15, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The DC Plan Investment Council is advocating for an exemption from prohibited transaction status for the provision of advice to participants by the adviser(s) to retirement plans at the time of a distributable event.

The Council submitted to the Department of Labor a Position on Rollovers from Plan Assets urging the Department to review rules and regulations that limit participant access to advice when the Council says they need the help most. According to a press release, the Council supports its position with quantitative data articulating the benefits of advice, quoting studies by the ING Institute for Research, Charles Schwab and Company and EBRI.   

As an alternative to rules and regulations, it proposes professional standards for plan advisers who deliver advice to participants in client plans at the time of distribution.  

The press release points out that advisers to the plan are best placed to provide advice at the time of distribution because they know the participant and the plan better than anyone else. For many participants, the plan adviser is the only adviser they have ever met in their career, the one who knows best their situation, facts and circumstances.   

“Professional retirement plan advisers could improve the retirement readiness of participants if they were able to help participants without constraint at the time of distribution,” said Steve Dimitriou of Mayflower Advisors, who has been involved with the Council since its creation in May 2009, and is the 2009 PLANADVISER Plan Adviser of the Year award winner, in the announcement.   

More information about the Council is at http://www.dcpicadvisors.com.

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