The Compliance Test Opportunity

If you want to add retirement plan advisory clients, one way is to have something to say about employers’ compliance testing problems.

There are five key moments in the year when benefits advisors can demonstrate their expertise and attention to detail.

1. The annual census.
2. Compliance testing.
3. Production and auditing of the Form 5500.
4. Preparing and sending required notices.
5. Measurement and planning.

The first key moment, the annual census period, runs from January through early February.

Retirement plan sponsors should then go through a compliance testing process every year in late March.

This is the time of the year when recordkeepers, third-party administrators and other service providers help employers ensure that their plans comply with 401(k) regulations.

Hidden Pain

Making sure a plan complies with 401(k) regulations can be a daunting task for a plan sponsor, and making corrections after compliance testing can take time and money.

Compliance testing may still be fresh in the minds of clients that ran into difficulties this year.

You can turn a pain point into an opportunity, by finding the pain point.

Did a plan sponsor get the help it needed from its recordkeeper or TPA during the recent testing period?

The Compliance Testing Test

Start a conversation by asking an employer whether the services provider…

• Talked with you about the compliance process and the deadlines?
• Completed the testing promptly?
• Provided easy-to-understand results?
• Took proactive steps to uncover discrepancies?
• Helped you correct failures?
• Discussed or implemented ways to improve future results?
• Accepted fiduciary responsibility for the compliance testing process?

Employers whose answers add up to a negative experience may look to the advisor for solutions.