PLANADVISER - November/December 2020 - 2

publisher's note //
publisher: Alison Cooke Mintzer
Alison.Mintzer@issmediasolutions.com
What a Year!
I
creative director: SooJin Chun Buzelli
SooJin.Buzelli@issmediasolutions.com
managing editor: Judy Faust Hartnett
Judy.FaustHartnett@issmediasolutions.com
t's difficult to come to the end of the year and
not write some sort of piece about reflection.
This year, I find that to even write an editorial
about it is hard because the year has been
so bizarre!
That being said, as I spent time reflecting on
the last 11 months, I found myself noting what an
interesting and busy year it's been in the retirement
plan space. So much has happened that
almost seems unnoticed, not because of its lack
of importance, but rather because it seemed overshadowed
by the bigger issues facing the country.
Not only did we see the implementation and beginning of many of the Setting
Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act provisions,
but then we got the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act,
and the many advisory opinions and regulations from the Department of Labor
(DOL) relating to proxy voting; environmental, social and governance (ESG)
investing; the use of private equity investments in defined contribution (DC)
plans; the expansion of electronic retirement plan disclosures and communications
to participants; lifetime income illustrations under the SECURE Act; and,
of course, yet another iteration of the fiduciary rule.
With a new administration on the horizon, some of these may be revisited-
though I hope, for everyone's sake, that we might be able to finally call " time " on
the fiduciary rule redo and just implement the new standard. But overall, as we
enter 2021, I think we'll start to see what a big year this was from a regulation
standpoint as the changes start being effected.
Not everything will have broad influence. Will private equity start to see
its inclusion in more plans? Probably not widely, in my assessment, despite the
advisory opinion from the DOL and the desire of private equity firms to take
their piece of the DC pie. The ESG investing rule was softened a bit, and, ultimately,
I don't see it dampening the interest in such investments-especially as
studies continue to show that such factors can and do have a positive influence
on returns. I think the ability to move, where appropriate, to electronic disclosures
and communications about the retirement plan is a welcome change and
will see many sponsors switching, but I don't know that it will drive changes
to outcomes. The future of income illustrations under the SECURE Act could
still see some changes, and I think that's warranted in order to help participants
grasp the many assumptions made in calculating that number they see
on statements.
The big question marks for 2021 when it comes to outcomes-which are, in
my opinion, what we should focus on as an industry-would be what happens
with pooled employer plans (PEPs) once they start rolling out in January, and
what positive and negative effects resulted from the CARES Act distributions?
We talk about the importance of participants staying invested in their plan
but continue to promote the retirement plan, oftentimes through regulation, as
the place to go when catastrophe hits. At some point, we need to square that
with the goal of these savings plans. For us to really do that, we have to look at
what was exposed this year: a lack of access to retirement and savings plans
overall; an under-savings rate; and the impact of market volatility and sequence
of return risk for participants and retirees, among other issues.
As we finally close out this year, I hope all of us will see brighter days in
2021. In the retirement plan world, this year saw some positive developments,
but also showed us where we must look to help Americans be more financially
secure. In that is a good New Year's resolution. -Alison Cooke Mintzer, Publisher
managing editor, planadviser.com:
John Manganaro
John.Manganaro@issmediasolutions.com
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Michele Theodore, Amanda Umpierrez,
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PLANADVISER - November/December 2020

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