TPSU Hires Veteran to Aid DC Plan Sponsors in Advisor Benchmarking
ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to make sure that all vendors paid out of plan assets are qualified and that their fees are reasonable. 401(k) & 403(b) plan sponsors rely on their advisor or consultant to perform due diligence on investments & their record keeper. That same principle applies to their advisor or consultant, yet obviously, they cannot conduct due diligence on themselves.
The most important decision a plan sponsor will make is hiring the right advisor or consultant yet there are surprisingly few resources to help. With increased litigation and regulatory scrutiny along with declining fees, benchmarking and going to market through a request for proposal are critical.
At the conclusion of The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) Fiduciary Education Program held on the UCLA campus, Fred Barstein, founder and CEO of TPSU, introduced Andy Kelleher, the most recent associate to join the team, during an interview at the University of Denver. Andy Kelleher had a long career with MassMutual, Fidelity, and TIA before taking early retirement. Attracted by the timing and opportunity at TPSU, Andy explains that his role involves conducting programs, like the one at the University of Denver, throughout the Midwest, while also contributing to TPSU’s fiduciary due diligence for advisors. Andy’s experience is an asset in assisting plan sponsors through this important process. TPSU’s independence and national scope provide an unbiased approach to RPA due diligence.
For more information about rpaDD and TPSU’s comprehensive range of services, please visit https://www.tpsuniversity.com/rpadd-center/
Read the Full Transcript Here:
Fred Barstein:
Greetings. This is Fred Barstein, founder and CEO at TPSU TRAU and 401kTV. I am here at the University of Denver, where we just completed a TPSU program and we are here with our most recent associate who just joined us, Andy Kelleher. Welcome, Andy.
Andy Kelleher:
Thank you, Fred. Thank you.
Fred Barstein:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background before we get into the interview.
Andy Kelleher:
Okay. Yeah, spent almost 35 years, or I say, 35 years plus with MassMutual, Fidelity and TIA. I took a package, if you will, when they were offering early retirement, and after a couple of years, my wife said, “You need to stay busy. You need to stay busy.” But the timing was perfect with TPSU and it’s been a great experience.
Fred Barstein:
And just explain a little bit about what your role is at TPSU.
Andy Kelleher:
Okay. I’ll be doing programs, such as we did today at University of Denver, and I’ll be based in Cincinnati and do those throughout the Midwest, but I’ll also be working with the TPSU fiduciary due diligence for advisors.
Fred Barstein:
Right. Tell us a little bit about what you heard about due diligence and advisors today at our TPSU program. I know you sat in a lot of the breakouts.
Andy Kelleher:
Yeah. Yeah, I think, well, number one, they value the advisor. It’s huge. It’s a huge part of their world and they value it very much, but much like when they do the due diligence for the record keeper, it needs to be done for the advisor as well. I think there’s a big question mark, how do I do that? Where do I go?
Fred Barstein:
Right. If somebody was interested in RPA due diligence, what would they do? How would they go about it?
Andy Kelleher:
Yeah, they’d go on the TPSU website and there’s a section there for due diligence. There’s a brief form. They fill it out and we’ll follow up with them.
Fred Barstein:
Right, and help them through this process.
Andy Kelleher:
Yep, help them through it.
Fred Barstein:
And the key for us is we’re not affiliated, we’re independent. We’re national on it. And so, great, and we are very fortunate to have somebody with your experience to work with plan sponsors that are out there to help them through this really critical process.
Andy Kelleher:
Yep, it is. It is. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Fred Barstein:
Great. Well, thank you for joining us today at TPSU, and thank you for watching 401kTV.
