Gregory Metzger, North Pier’s Senior Consultant and Search Practice Leader, was featured in PLANSPONSOR’s most recent article on the important due diligence plan sponsors should consider when recordkeepers are acquired or merged.
The trend of recordkeeper consolidation has affected many retirement plan sponsors. And, while it has decreased the pool of eligible choices, plan sponsors still need to prudently select the right recordkeeper for their plan and participants.
What if a plan sponsor knows nothing about the recordkeeper that will handle its retirement plan going forward? What if the acquiring recordkeeper is one that was not selected during a previous request for proposals (RFP) process by the plan sponsor? Would it be considered a best practice to issue an RFP/RFI at this time or wait to see how the conversion plays out…
According to Gregory Metzger, senior consultant at North Pier Search Consulting in Marina Del Ray, California, all conversions cause significant disruption for plan sponsors and participants. “There should definitely be some research into the organization that will be administering your employees’ retirement plans. RFPs are an excellent tool for this task,” he says.
“Doing nothing is a decision!” Metzger adds. “Accepting a conversion without evaluation is not prudent.” He says it is in the best interest of the participants to evaluate service. Change may not be necessary, but a well-informed decision is required.