G | Fiduciary, LLC and 401k ASP Unveil the "G | Index"
PORTLAND, OR, April 23, 2007 -- G | Fiduciary, LLC of Portland, Oregon and 401k ASP of Tampa, Florida announced today the unveiling of the G | Index™, a tool that dynamically measures the costs of any defined contribution plan, taking into account all variables, including optional plan provisions, and investment portfolio structures, no matter how complex or sophisticated, thereby making all comparisons "apples-to-apples."
The difficulty in measuring the costs of any defined contribution plan has been at the heart of a raging national debate. Concerns about the fees and costs associated with the current retirement plan business model have triggered litigation, Congressional hearings, regulatory investigations, and concerns about the possibility of chronic obstruction of fiduciary oversight. Fiduciaries and participants simply need an easy to understand comparison showing how much of their investment return they get to keep at the end of the day, measured against a standard they could have otherwise easily met. The G | Index™ settles the debate once and for all.
"Full disclosure of plan costs is not only possible, it is immediately deliverable on both a plan-wide and personal, participant level," says Daniel S. Peterson, one of the architects of the G |Index™. Peterson, a Harvard MBA, along with several leading minds in the 401(k) industry created the G | Index™ as a tool that will survive the test of time, no matter how a plan is designed, or what types of investments are used. "The principles governing the G | Index™, including its mathematical implementation, have been vetted by a professor of financial economics at a leading University," Peterson adds.
Pete Kirtland, President of 401k ASP describes the G | Index™ in this way, "We support full transparency of retirement plans, and we applaud Congress for its initiative in this matter. In the final analysis, even if Congress requires full disclosure, there still has to be a practical, rigorous method for defining the true economics that any participant or employer can understand, without increasing the burdens, economic or otherwise, upon them. The G | Index™ is the ideal solution, as it cuts through the chaos and complexity, and delivers two personalized numbers that any participant can understand. One number is the return the participant could in reality have earned, and the second is the actual return. The difference between the two is how much their particular plan costs in excess of an otherwise easily obtainable standard."
G | Fiduciary, LLC and 401k ASP plan to make the G | Index™ available to any plan sponsor who wishes to use it as a definitive cost measurement tool for less than one third of one basis point (0.003%) per year. This equates to five cents per month for a participant account with $20,000 in assets. The G | Index™ will be hosted and delivered by 401k ASP and user licenses will be available to other service providers.
Matthew D. Hutcheson, a Congressional expert witness during the fee hearings held on March 6, 2007, is a co-inventor of the G | Index™. He explains, "the G | Index™ is a solution all parties can appreciate and embrace, no matter where they fall on the broad spectrum of this issue. It is unbiased, principle based, mathematically sound, and prudent at its core. It is the disclosure solution for America's workforce. Employers who work hard to create a more secure future for themselves and their employees no longer have to feel anxious about what, up until now, has been difficult to grasp. Think of it as a 'GPS' system for retirement plan fiduciaries."
###
Click here for more material dealing with current trends, opinion, news, legislative action, investments, marketing, sales, consulting, and legal issues on 401k plans.
This is a press release provided by the company or its representatives. 401khelpcenter.com, LLC is not the author of this release and is not associated or affiliated with any firm or organization mentioned unless otherwise noted. Use of any information obtained from this release is voluntary, and reliance on it should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and timeliness. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by 401khelpcenter.com, LLC.
