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When It Comes to ESG, Plan Sponsors Need to Follow News Not Noise

There are several levels to the news on ESG. For plan sponsors not all of the forthcoming information is necessarily news to use. We suggest focusing on the news about lawsuits on fiduciary duties and ESG rules for plan sponsors.

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Puzzling Through the Pieces: Finding Possible Themes and Conflict in the Changes at DOL

Instead of taking changes at the DOL as single item issues, it might be more useful to see how all the changes interact. Often, legislators and regulators want changes to interact like a puzzle; each piece interlocking to form a larger picture. But sometimes when many policies are changed at the same time, conflicts emerge that can put those supposed to be following them into the proverbial spot between a rock and a hard place.

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Retirement by Any Other Name? Associations with the Word “Retirement” Could Shift

Many plan sponsors report lags in enrollment and retirement activity among plan participants. While some statistics show that new tricks and tips have impacted participation in retirement plans, enrollment may still lag. It is possible that the way employees think about retirement in general could be behind the lag in active retirement investing.

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Long Term Care: It is Time to Talk, More

Many retirees are not well positioned for the health care challenges they may face in retirement because they did not take advantage of long-term care insurance. While many saving for retirement have begun optimizing savings through Health Savings Accounts, they may not understand how those accounts can be used for long-term care insurance premiums when they do retire.

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Leadership Interrupted - Leading Teams During Tough Times

Political turmoil may be rocking the markets and your firm’s office. How can advisors lead their teams during tough times? Five tips that work.

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San Francisco v. EPA and the Safeguards Rule: Caution Ahead

A Supreme Court ruling curtailing the EPA’s rulemaking for outcome-based regulation could change cybersecurity rules for financial advisors. Well, maybe. We discuss the details by reviewing the Court’s decision and the federal framework for financial institution cybersecurity safeguards.

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Testing Your Loyalty: A Gathering Trend on Fiduciary Duties

There may be a new player in the fiduciary duty sandbox, and it involves ESG. Most often when discussing fiduciary duties, the topic at hand involves the research and appropriateness of decision making. Issues of loyalty and trust in investment advice are always worth following.

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Maximizing Marketing Efficiency

By this point in January, most people have stepped aside from the aspirational goals they set for the New Year. For many advisors, increasing their marketing efforts made it into their goals for 2025. It can be difficult to carry through on this goal. The key may be to find ways to maximize efficiency when it comes to marketing.

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Assessing Alternative Investments: What to Watch

When it comes to alternative investments, do clients want new options or a new approach to the traditional ones? We review the performance of traditional alternative investments, such as private equity, real estate, and commodities and assess new trends.

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Re-Enrollment Round Up

With the success of auto-enrollment in retirement plans for new hires, some plan sponsors are looking to a new trend among benefits. Many have begun creating plans for re-enrolling employees who have dropped out of retirement plans during their tenures.

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Financial Wellness: Plan and Assess for Success

When it comes to financial wellness, plan participants and sponsors might not be seeing eye to eye. That divide may not be insurmountable; a little planning may smooth any tensions.

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Lead Employees to the Benefits Trough Through Education

Employee education is often a topic plan sponsors or the employer delegates to vendors, such as a plan administrator. However, recent surveys indicate plan sponsors are opting for plan design changes. It is possible that linking employee education programs to these changes could facilitate those changes.

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Transparency, Flexibility, Pensions, and Savings Accounts: A Year in Review

2024 was full of dramatic moments. Given that, it might be easy to have missed some of the key details and trends in the less dramatic world of employee benefit plans. We thought a review of trends and regulations could be helpful for those whose attention may have been drawn to elsewhere.

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La Plus ca Change: Digesting Investing 2024

The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s tempting to say that the key themes of 2024 for the investment profession were the same as for years past. You might even ask yourself, is it worth it to do a year in review? We think so.

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With a Twist: Alternative Investment Trends and a Forgotten Friend

Trendspotting in alternative investing include generational preferences as well as a close look at the traditional alternative asset classes. And oh, don’t overlook bonds.

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Small Ship Warning: The 411 on Charting PR in a Storm Not of Your Making

Bernie Madoff may have faded from memory but that doesn't mean prospective clients aren't worried about what they hear on the news. Advisors may want to consider how to respond to these hits to the industry's reputation when planning marketing strategies.

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Volatility, Behavioral Finance, and Your Clients

Some analysts are making predictions for how the Trump Administration may impact retirement planning based on changes in personnel, others are focused on the changed regulatory structure. But one thing is for certain: the market may be volatile once again.

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How to Help Employees Master Budgeting Techniques Using Holiday Spending as a Teaching Tool

Here we are – the end of the year and the holiday season. Right now, employees face the challenge of budgeting for all the expenses that come with this time of year: food, travel, gifts, and more. Bad budgeting can lead to high credit card debt, hurting their ability to reach other goals, like saving for retirement. Employers can help employees budget this holiday season – here’s how.

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Snags in Savings: Considerations for Sponsors on Employee Savings Plans

Employees’ interest in savings accounts may be as high as the rates offered on those accounts. But regulations are still slightly less than salient when it comes to how sponsors enroll and incentivize employees to enroll in savings accounts.

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The Microretirements Trend

A growing number of younger people are looking for “microretirements” as part of their career paths. What is a microretirement, and how can employees and employers work together to benefit each other with this growing trend?

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SEC Leadership Change and Trendspotting

The SEC may be making news lately for its crackdown on cryptocurrency, but the real story may be how its agenda has been changing concerning enforcement actions. Here are a few things financial advisors should consider.

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Financial Plans for the Entire Family

Income variability, market volatility, and continuing international conflict have led clients to increasingly think of including several generations in one financial plan. Here’s what to know about creating family financial plans.

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In a Marketing Pinch? Add a Dash of Menu Planning

Market costs have been putting many small financial firm owners in a bind. They may find themselves between the rock of needing to increase warm leads and the hard place of reducing costs. There is an answer, and it may be to borrow a popular trick from household management: meal prepping.

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FINRA Data: The Latest Snapshot Shows Trends in Consolidation and Geographic Changes

This summer FINRA released its industry snapshot for 2024. This report provides a solid overview of changes in the industry over the last year. Financial advisors may want to keep an eye on any trends such as an industry consolidation towards firms with more experience and growth of registered agents in the South and Southeast.

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Time to talk taxes: The TCJA, Child Tax Credits, and Tax Brackets

As Quarter Four draws near for many investors, clients may be thinking of preparing for their year-end discussions on tax preparations. But advisors may want to take time to talk with them about the potential for tax changes that 2025 could bring.

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Authors

Sean Riley
Financial Consultant
Jeffrey Garlatti
Financial Advisor
Robert Terry
Retirement Plan Sales Manager

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