A new retirement plan offering for small- to mid-size businesses is targeting the sweet spot of providing high-end service and advantages similar to what larger plans can offer with a competitive price that allows the advisor to stay at the center of the client relationship.
Transamerica announced this week that it has been selected by Franklin Templeton as the recordkeeper for the new retirement plan solution. The Franklin Templeton Group Plan Solution is offered exclusively through Franklin Templeton and was created for employers seeking to benefit from group pricing and access to services not always available, particularly to smaller companies.
“We believe every U.S. worker and household should have the right to experience financial wellbeing throughout each phase of life and access to a workplace retirement plan is a critical step towards achieving that,” said Yaqub Ahmed, Head of Retirement, Insurance & 529—U.S. at Franklin Templeton. “In this strategic partnership, we look forward to empowering financial professionals with a retirement plan offering for small to mid-size businesses that has advantages similar to what many larger scale plans can offer.”
Under the arrangement, Transamerica will serve as recordkeeper for these retirement plans. In addition, DWC—The 401(k) Experts will provide 3(16) plan administrator fiduciary services, and LeafHouse Financial be the 3(38) investment fiduciary.
The Group Plan Solution is not a multiple employer plan (MEP). Unlike a MEP, certain plan qualification and ERISA requirements are applied at the individual plan level. An employer participating in the plan retains certain fiduciary responsibilities, including responsibility for retaining and monitoring the 3(16) plan administrator, for determining the reasonableness of its fees, and for periodically reviewing the plan as a whole.
“We applaud Franklin Templeton for its forward-thinking strategy to expand retirement plan coverage in the workplace. This solution enables employers to offload the responsibility for typical day-to-day tasks to DWC, which saves time for their human resources departments. Support includes approval of distributions and loans, and monitoring plan eligibility,” said Darren Zino, Senior Managing Director of U.S. Retirement Distribution at Transamerica.
“This solution gives employers access to professional plan services that they might not otherwise be in a position to afford,” Zino added. “Transamerica is honored to be part of this new solution, and we look forward to working with DWC and LeafHouse Financial to bring the best of services to Franklin Templeton’s retirement plan clients.”
“We are excited to build on our successful Transamerica and DWC defined contribution service model by building a customized investment advisor solution with Franklin Templeton,” said Keith Clark, Managing Partner at DWC. “Lori Reay, Partner at DWC has spent a lot of time working with LeafHouse, Transamerica, and Franklin Templeton, making sure this is a competitive solution for the small and middle plan marketplace.”
“We believe this collaboration between Franklin Templeton, Transamerica and LeafHouse offers a high-end service with a competitive price that allows the advisor to stay at the center of the client relationship,” added Todd Kading, President of LeafHouse Financial.