The Five Things That Every 401(k) Plan Committee Must Do in the Coming Months

Presented by Mike Malone & Bud Green of MJM401k

The world of 401(k) has certainly changed over the last year or so. Watching the extreme volatility of the capital markets, most committees were understandably cautious and reluctant to make any significant changes in their investment policy or plan design. Congress, the regulators, and the Administration on the other hand, jumped headlong into the fray with various hearings, proposals and solutions, all designed to address what the media urgently proclaimed as the failure of the 401(k) plan. But now that the waters have calmed, at least for the moment, thoughtful 401(k) committees are realizing that somewhere between hysteria and inertia, there is an appropriate response to critical aspects of their plans. They are taking stock of recent events, assessing the lessons learned, and attempting to formulate fundamental beliefs about critical plan issues as we move forward.

This month’s presentation, The Five Things That Every 401(k) Committee Must Do in the Coming Months, is an overview of those critical plan issues which should command the attention of all plan committees. In this presentation, we will frame both the issues and the policy considerations that we believe will help shape the direction of the plan for 2010 and beyond. We will review re-assessing the plan’s default option, developing a fee and expense strategy, defining what products and services the plan should offer to pre-retirees, reviewing the plan’s stable value or money market option, and finally, bringing the Investment Policy Statement to life by actively addressing these and other key issues.