The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast

By Roland|Criss

Insights into the practices required to satisfy the moral and legal requirements for executives and managers who are assigned to oversee the retirement and benefit plan assets of their enterprise's em... more

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FAQs about The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast:

How many episodes does The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 25 episodes available.

The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast episodes:

November 04, 2022 Fresh Perspectives on Fiduciary Controls

Traditional internal control methods for retirement, pension, and health and welfare plans are insufficient in the present business climate. Regulatory, legal, and cyber security events confirm it. Chief financial officers, human resources executives, and other senior business unit leaders comprise the class of individuals who manage employee benefit plans. This podcast discusses why many of their management practices have become outdated and what needs to do to make them current.
Prudent Performance drives employee benefit plan management excellence.
Leading employee benefit plan managers strive for Prudent Performance, described as consistently attaining goals while dealing with uncertainty in complying with the prudence rule. Learn what defines Prudent Performance and how it transforms fiduciary outcomes.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
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12min
October 24, 2022 Evaluating Fiduciary Committee Performance

Independent, thorough fiduciary committee assessments are becoming more crucial. Demands on committees are higher than ever as expectations for better retirement outcomes continue to grow. Committee evaluations can pinpoint areas that require improvement and enable members to assess their plan’s preparedness to satisfy participants and regulators.
Committee evaluations can pinpoint areas that require improvement…
Before starting an assessment, learn the four goals it should meet and the nine issues it should cover.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
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12min
October 07, 2022 Are Cybersecurity Warnings Being Heard?

Most employee benefit plan committees operate outside the scope and purview of their employers’ cybersecurity leader. Traditional culture improvement efforts focusing exclusively on awareness are not causing a change in priorities among committees. That begs the question, is the human resources community paying attention to the warnings about the devastating effects of lax data security on employee benefit plans?
Traditional culture improvement efforts focusing exclusively on awareness are not causing a change in priorities among committees.
This podcast presents four steps HR executives can follow to change the order of their employee benefit plan committees’ cybersecurity priorities.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
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13min
September 23, 2022 Don't Hold on to the Money!

The mistakes employers make in the administration of 401(k) and 403(b) plans are widespread and involve predictable errors. The first and most common error is employers’ failure to remit employee deferrals for deposits to employees’ retirement plan accounts on a timely basis. It should be no surprise then that deficiency is one of the most aggressive enforcement areas by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor.
The first and most common error is employers’ failure to remit employee deferrals for deposits to employees’ retirement plan accounts on a timely basis.
Learn the three steps your plan management program can include to avoid this mistake.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
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12min
September 09, 2022 New RFP Best Practices

According to Fidelity Investments, nearly one-half of the more than 1,200 retirement plans it surveyed may have new recordkeepers soon. Fidelity reported that the lead executives who manage those plans intend to commission a request for proposal (“RFP”) project to search the market for a potentially new recordkeeping vendor. New issues confront employee benefit plan committees that modify the traditional content of retirement plan RFPs.
According to Fidelity Investments, nearly one-half of the more than 1,200 retirement plans it surveyed may have new recordkeepers soon.
Two significant developments force modernization of RFP best practices for recordkeeping vendor searches. Hear them explained in this podcast.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
...more
17min
August 26, 2022 Human Resources Leaders as Investment Fiduciaries

Many human resources executives find themselves assigned to a committee that manages the investments in employee benefit plans like 401(k), 403(b), and company-funded pension plans. Seldom do HR leaders possess the academic background or experience of an investment professional, but that’s what fiduciary laws require. This podcast is intended to clarify the key issues that federal law and the courts expect plan fiduciaries to address and resolve with prudence.
Seldom do HR leaders possess the academic background or experience of an investment professional, but that’s what fiduciary laws require.
Human resources leaders who may feel out of their comfort zone when meeting with their investment-related employee benefit plan committee colleagues will gain confidence from the insights and tips offered in this episode.

About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
...more
13min
August 15, 2022 De-Risking the Investment Fiduciary Role

Investors face a variety of decision-making risks. For example, registered securities like stocks, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and bonds can lose some and even all their value. By the same token, insured investments, like certificates of deposit issued by financial institutions, may not earn enough interest over time to keep pace with cost of living increases. However, the risks that confront retirement plan fiduciaries transcend the risks associated with any specific investment option.
The degree to which ERISA plan fiduciaries are exposed to risk is far more dependent on the quality of their procedures for selecting and supervising prudent experts like recordkeepers and consultants than on how well investments perform. Today’s podcast focuses on how investment fiduciary risk differs from investment risk and presents steps that resolve the differences.
…the risks that confront retirement plan fiduciaries transcend the risks associated with any specific investment option.
About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
...more
18min
August 12, 2022 Top Nine Critical 401(k) Plan Errors

Our guest expert, Daniel Williams, leads the employee benefit plan audit practice for LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors and is a prominent leader in the public accounting profession on best practices for managing ERISA plans. His firm conducts a large number of plan audits annually.

In this podcast, you’ll learn how to avoid the nine most common operational deficiencies that get employers in serious trouble with the U.S. Department of Labor and the IRS. That information can help you implement new policies and provide you with ideas on how to ensure compliance with your plan’s governance rules and federal regulations.

Host
Ronald E. Hagan, AIFA® is Chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series. His column The Excellent Fiduciary appears in each issue of the nationally published Journal of Compensation and Benefits.

Guest Expert
Daniel Williams, CPA, CCIFP, is a director of audit and assurance Services, with a concentration on construction and employee benefit plan services at LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors. INSIDE Public Accounting named LaPorte one of the “Top 200 Accounting Firms” for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

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34min
August 05, 2022 Fiduciary Essentials for Target Date Funds

Target-date funds (“TDF”) offer a long-term investment strategy based on holding a mix of stocks, bonds, and other investments (this mix is called an asset allocation) that automatically changes over time as retirement plan participants age.

According to public comments by Department of Labor officials, TDFs do not receive the same evaluation when selected, and scrutiny ongoing as other investment options. Severe consequences lurk for fiduciaries that add TDFs to their retirement plans’ investment options but fail to ensure their choices perform appropriately over time.

Our experts discuss what fiduciary committees can do to ensure they select and oversee TDFs properly. They present eight activities that form a best practices outline relevant for all defined contribution plans.

Host
Ronald E. Hagan is Chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series. His column The Excellent Fiduciary appears in each issue of the nationally published Journal of Compensation and Benefits.

Guest Expert
Christine L. Denton is Group Executive for Roland|Criss’ Risk Practice Group. Christine provides a wide, in-depth variety of experience advising retirement plan committees on fiduciary best practices. She holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst™ (AIFA®) accreditation and the Governance, Risk, and Compliance Professional (“GRCP”) certification. Christine is a member of the Employee Benefit Plan Cybersecurity Working Group, an industry task force. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Baylor University.

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14min
July 22, 2022 Tips for Investment Fiduciaries When the Market Tumbles

A complex financial environment such as the one facing retirement plan committees brings a barrage of investment opinions from external advisors and an influx of inquiries from employees and their beneficiaries. This constant theorizing on potential investment strategies, adjustments, and outcomes can challenge the idea of adhering to simple principles. Fortunately, there are tangible steps you can take to help keep on a steady course, regardless of turbulent external factors. Tune in to this podcast and get four tips that will help ensure your peace of mind.
…there are tangible steps you can take to help keep on a steady course, regardless of turbulent external factors.
About our host

Ronald E. Hagan is chairman of Roland|Criss’ Risk Standards Committee. Ron has over 25 years of experience helping clients examine and improve their risk management practices for employee benefit plans qualified under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. He is the engaging host of Roland|Criss’ weekly podcast and quarterly webinar series.
...more
15min

FAQs about The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast:

How many episodes does The Excellent Fiduciary Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 25 episodes available.