The Plan Sponsor Council of America announced that it will join the American Retirement Association, an umbrella organization of four other advocacy groups.
The announcement was made at a press briefing in New York on Wednesday by American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff, and will take effect on Dec. 29 under the terms of a combination agreement signed by the boards of directors of both organizations.
PSCA will become a membership division of the American Retirement Association, alongside the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), the ASPPA College of Pension Actuaries (ACOPA), the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) and the National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA).
The ARA claims current membership numbers of over 20,000, including business owners, service providers, recordkeepers, attorneys, accountants, actuaries, and retirement plan advisors.
“We’re very excited and have been exploring ways to provide benefits and services for plan sponsors,” Graff said. “Most of the time we’re doing advocacy, but an extensive part of what we also do, especially online, is training.”
For PSCA, the move represents an opportunity to offer its members access to an expanded array of resources and educational services, while at the same time amplifying the long-standing independent voice of the plan sponsor alongside a wide array of retirement plan industry professions, according to the organization.
For the American Retirement Association, the addition of PSCA adds the “important voice of plan sponsors and strengthens the organization’s ability to advocate for the private, voluntary retirement system.
“Adding the voice of the plan sponsor will continue to enlarge our advocacy efforts overall,” Graff added. “We see it as an opportunity to make them stronger and as a result make us stronger as well.”
ARA and Graff have been active and vocal in the recent debate over retirement plan contribution limits as a part of the Trump Administration’s tax reform bill, actively lobbying Congress in opposition to the rumored cuts.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
