Yes. The U.S. Department of Labor is on record saying that it wants plan participants to have as much assistance as possible, and encourages plan sponsors to offer participants investment advice if plan sponsors determine their participants need it to make informed decisions. (May 1998 issue of 401(k) Alert, by Olena Berg, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration.)
In addition, the DOL and Congress have increasingly voiced strong support of offering investment advice to participants.
Portfolio management services have been used in ERISA plans for many years. ERISA includes provisions for plan sponsors to appoint investment managers, and the Department of Labor regulations on 404(c) plans discuss various examples involving investment management services.
The Department of Labor has stated that providing advice can actually reduce a sponsor's fiduciary risk. In a major policy speech on September 15, 2000, Leslie Kramerich, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor, Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration had this to say on the subject:
"[W]e believe that employers can be responsive to the investment education and investment advice needs of their employees, without significant burdens or risk of liability. The selection of providers that offer informed, unbiased and appropriate investment education or investment advice will, in our view, not only serve to increase the likelihood of employees achieving retirement security, but also significantly reduce the potential for employee dissatisfaction and possible litigation."
Horizon™ will complement and supplement any existing investment advice program you may already have in place.
Compass Investors offers significant objectivity to your participants as well as a proven alternative investment approach for them to consider
Horizon™ is an Adaptive Asset Allocation™ strategy while virtually all other providers of investment advice/research you may have been using or are considering using follow a form of formulaic asset allocation.
We believe that it is in any plan sponsor's interest to offer their participants multiple, non-redundant investment research services. Doing so provides your participants with alternative investment strategies and you, the plan sponsor, with additional fiduciary protection.
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