Investment Due Diligence Process a Must for Qualified Retirement Plan Sponsors

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Employers who provide qualified retirement plans as an employee benefit are fiduciaries for those plans. That means federal law – the Employment Retirement Securities Act (ERISA) – requires them to make prudent decisions regarding every aspect of 401(k) plan management.

“The majority of plan sponsors do not have access to the expertise needed to closely evaluate investment options for their plans,” noted Kent Peterson, director, Investment Services and senior associate actuary, Securian Financial Group, Inc. “Plan sponsors often look for outside expertise for help making prudent investment selections,” Peterson added.

To provide plan sponsors with insight into this crucial process, Peterson wrote “Creating a successful investment option due diligence process,” a paper available to employers and retirement plan advisors. It provides a step-by-step description of Securian’s process.

Securian Retirement’s investment option due diligence process is sophisticated, thorough and transparent. It’s a multi-faceted approach, implemented by in-house experts with more than 60 years of investment experience. The process includes quantitative and qualitative analysis and third party review by Towers Watson Consulting.

Additionally, Securian’s investment selection process is audited by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX), an independent global assessor of fiduciary standards and best practices. Securian earned CEFEX certification every year since 2008.

“With actively managed variable investment options (VIOs), we strive to offer those with proven, repeatable investment processes that will outperform their investment benchmarks over a complete market cycle,” said Peterson. As of December 31, 2011, nearly two-thirds of the actively managed VIOs in Securian Retirement’s lineup outperformed their benchmarks for at least one year since their introduction.

Since 1880, Securian Financial Group and its affiliates have provided financial security for individuals and businesses in the form of insurance, investments and retirement plans. Now one of the nation’s largest financial services providers, it is the holding company parent of a group of companies that include Minnesota Life Insurance Company.

Products and services are provided by Minnesota Life Insurance Company or Securian Retirement, a unit of Minnesota Life. Both are affiliates of Securian Financial Group, Inc., 400 Robert Street North, St. Paul, MN 55101-2098.

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Securian Financial GroupMaggie Jensen, APR, 651-665-7558
Media Relations Consultant

Source: Securian Financial Group