Today is inauguration day and depending on your political leanings, it represents the beginning, the end, the beginning of the end or some other variation on that theme!  However, what I am excited about is sharing my recent conversation with Bob Holcomb, ERISA Attorney and Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs at Empower Retirement where we discuss what employers should expect from retirement plan policy during the Trump Administration.  Now, despite what I just said a minute ago, Bob does a really nice job of providing a thoughtful and rationale view of the landscape to help you digest information and plan accordingly.  Our   conversation starts with what impact the President has on retirement policy, moves to initiatives in Congress, potential changes in tax policy that could impact both retirement plan sponsors and your participants, then on to the Department of Labor and closes with some predictions of what the future holds. 

 

Before we get started, as a reminder we are getting ready to launch a podcast and social media research project where I am will be asking employers to to share your input on one question, thats it.  However, your answers to one simple question will produce a really interesting body of work which we will share verbally on the podcast and in a white paper with our email subscribers.  We’re kicking things off in February and fair warning, the only way to participate is if you’re an email subscriber, connected with me on LinkedIn or following me on twitter.  So don’t delay, go to 401kfridays.com/subscribe and you can take care of all of those in one stop. 

 

Guest Bio

Robert Holcomb is Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for Empower Retirement. In this role, Mr. Holcomb oversees retirement policy efforts on behalf of Empower Retirement and meets with members of congress, regulatory agencies and other policy makers on pension related matters. In addition, he interprets pension-related legislation and regulations, consults with clients and internal partners on legislative and regulatory issues. He currently is Chairman of the American Benefits Council (ABC) and works with other industry advocacy groups. Prior to joining Empower, Mr. Holcomb was employee benefit counsel for a national bank.  A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Mr. Holcomb has been in the retirement business for more than 25 years serving in client management, operations, technical consulting and sales support roles. He is a graduate of the University of  Kansas School of Law.  

 

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

A weekly podcast where Employers, Retirement Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries come to hear candid insights from retirement industry leaders on important trends, topics and current events. Each episode is designed to explore a specific topic and leave our listeners with concrete ideas and strategies to enhance fiduciary protection, streamline plan operations or improve participant retirement readiness.  

With over 50 episodes we’ve had the good fortune chat with attorneys, authors, investment managers, professors, business leaders and fellow employers to explore a wide range of topics including fiduciary best practices, investment commentary, legal and regulatory updates, plan design trends, employee engagement strategies and much more! Be sure to check previous episodes at www.401kfridays.com/podcasts.