Pioneer Investments Partners with Fee Benchmarking Firm

June 2, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Pioneer Investments announced it is partnering with Fiduciary Benchmarks, Inc. (FBi), a consulting firm specializing in providing retirement plan fiduciaries with information on the reasonableness of fund fees. 

The relationship will give Pioneer and its clients access to FBi’s benchmarking services and help retirement plan fiduciaries assess plan fees. According to the announcement, Fiduciary Benchmarks has established protocols with over fifty of the country’s biggest recordkeepers, and will produce thousands of reports this year for a wide range of service providers and fiduciaries to determine fee reasonableness.  

The partnership will give the firm and its advisers access to benchmarking reports that can help retirement plan fiduciaries satisfy their obligations under ERISA section 404(a)(1) and the upcoming ERISA section 408(b)(2) regulation, slated to take effect in January 2012, which will require the disclosure of compensation, status, and services related to a retirement plan.  

Jamie Axford, Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development for Pioneer’s Investment Only & Retirment Group, said in the announcement: “The signing of this partnership is consistent with Pioneer’s objective of making sure that our clients and prospective clients who are retirement plan administrators have access to the best possible tools to allow them to evaluate their plan fees, design, and adviser services.” 

More information is at http://us.pioneerinvestments.com. 

  

-Sara Kelly 

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