Retirement Plan TPA Services Are the Foundation of a Solid Retirement Plan

Retirement Plan TPA Services Are the Foundation of a Solid Retirement Plan

Retirement plan TPA services make it possible for plan sponsors to hire seasoned experts in specialized roles for a company retirement plan.  Recently Trina Gross, CEO of Acuff and Associates and President-elect of the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA) spoke with Fred Barstein, Founder and CEO of 401kTV to discuss the use of retirement plan TPA services.  All plan sponsors should view this video to learn – whether changing a recordkeeper or looking for a new advisor, the retirement plan TPA services can remain intact.  Thus, bringing stability to the plan and plan participants.

Full Transcript Here

Fred Barstein with 401K TV with the monthly NIPA video. Welcome, today we have the privilege of speaking with Trina Gross, who is the president-elect of NIPA. Welcome, Trina.

Thank you.

Okay if we ask you a few questions?

Certainly.

So, Trina is the CEO of Acuff and Associates, which is in the Nashville area, one of the larger TPA’s there with 1,200 defined benefit and defined contribution, including 401K plans. Been around for a long, long time there.

So, today we wanted to talk about when a plan sponsor decides to change their record keeper, does that mean they have to change their TPA?

Absolutely it does not. There are a lot of advantages to keeping their TPA, and if they’re satisfied with good service they’ve gotten from that TPA, it absolutely does not have to be done.

And it’s very common for planned sponsors to change their advisor, for example, and not change their record keeper.

Correct. We call it professionally bundled, where they have the best experts from each of the areas. And if they’re satisfied with those experts and one is not performing up to their standards, they can simply replace that one.

And that’s the value of the unbundled service?

That’s correct.

Right. And so what’s sort of the time, or the work, or the downside of changing at TPA when maybe you’re satisfied with that service?

Well, certainly there has to be a conversion, so all of their records must be converted from their current TPA to a new TPA. There could be some downtime for their participants in that scenario. And all of the assets have to be reconciled from one to the other just as well. So, a continuing of service is really important with your participants when there’s no need for a disruption.

And it may be that it’s the record keeping choosing that TPA, may not be that that’s a good fit for that planned sponsor also.

Absolutely. And most TPA’s have good relationships with a number of vendors. They may have someone on their staff that’s dedicating to knowing that new vendor. So as long as the planned sponsor asks those questions and is aware of the opportunities there, it could be a good situation for everyone.

Right. So, the bottom line is the planned sponsor shouldn’t be forced into changing that TPA if they really do like it. And the planned sponsor ultimately is the client, right?

Absolutely. That’s who we all serve, and that’s who we want to be happy.

Right, that’s great. Well, that’s great advice, thank you for your time today. And thank you for watching the 401K TV NIPA monthly video.

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