Do You Offer Retirement Advice for Employees?

What type of retirement investment advice does your company provide its employees?

According to results from the Employer-Sponsored Investment Ad- vice Survey Report—a report sponsored jointly by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), WorldatWork, and the Employee Benefit Research Institute—only 50% of plan sponsors offer retirement investment advice to their employees. And a majority of organizations that don’t offer investment advice would consider providing the benefit if laws were implemented to exempt employers from fiduciary liability. Here are some of the survey’s findings:

• Organizations providing retirement investment advice usually offer the service through online resources or via financial planners in person or by telephone.

• Seventy-four percent of plan participants from small companies had access to some type of investment advice, a much higher rate than at medium (51%) and large (42%) organizations.

• Large and medium-size employers that offer access to investment advice do so most often through the Internet (72% and 60%, respectively); among small employers, 63% provide access to a financial planner by telephone.

• Access in person or by phone had a greater impact on employees’ investments decisions than did online investment advice.

Let us review with you what your company can do to enhance employees’ understanding of investments and participation in the retirement plan. We can help you establish a program that offers your workforce access to prudent investment advice.