With the Secure Act in effect, the use of annuities in defined contribution ("DC") plans will open up new opportunities for the insurance industry. However, success in attaining new business will require changes in products, practices and investment in time, effort and capital in order to counteract the current negative attitude towards the misunderstood annuity products.
Sample templates are the simple way to formalize the key requirements of Regulation Best Interest by making changes to the standard forms and adding necessary disclosures. The Sample Template 4 Pack includes Investment Discovery and Recommendations and Rollover Discovery and Recommendations.
Making the Most of 408(g) is a series of four reports (“Series”) designed to inform the decision and optimize the implementation of the 408(g) exemption. Each report is focused on a separate area of interest so that together the Series offers a broad understanding of the opportunities and implications of the 408(g).
The Series consists of reports covering:
This paper is one of a series that is intended to provide users and those considering use of 408(g) with guidance from the perspective of the independent auditor and independent expert required by the exemption.
This paper presents best practices for complying with audit and certification requirements relating to this communication.
This paper is one of a series intended to provide users and those considering use of 408(g) with guidance from the perspective of the independent auditor and independent expert required by the exemption.
This paper presents best practices for complying with audit and certification requirements for the variety of Generally Accepted Investment Theories.
This paper is one of a series intended to provide users and those considering use of 408(g) with guidance from the perspective of the independent auditor and independent expert required by the exemption.
This paper describes opportunities to leverage the 408(g) process to increase confidence of existing clients and make advice services more compelling for prospective clients.
This paper is one of a series intended to provide users, and those considering use of 408(g) with guidance from the perspective of the independent auditor and independent expert required by the exemption.
i-LearnERISA offers two comprehensive self-study courses Navigating the New Rollover Reality and Compliance for Rollover Fiduciaries. These courses are designed to equip Financial professionals with the knowledge needed to confidently advise and make rollover recommendations. Compliance Officers will find value in these courses as a resource to complement a firm’s educational efforts to help associates master and comply with rollover requirements.
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DALBAR's Trends and Best Practices in Investor Statements recognizes top financial communications via a ranking of financial statements, a summary of current best practices in statement content and design and emerging industry trends.
Performance reporting paints a complete picture of a portfolio and provides a deep look into the allocations, performance and investments that make up clients’ accounts. These tools go beyond the quarterly statement and assist clients in understanding their investment strategies and help to identify when changes need to be made. DALBAR’s Trends & Best Practices in Performance Reporting reveals the features that make these documents, vital components to the firm-advisor-client relationship, best-in-class.
NEW! Investor Insights: Account Statements
Investors are utilizing new technologies but the statement is still widely used to obtain account details. This report delves into how statements are utilized, including common sections deemed critically important or not important and examines investor opinions on statement design.
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DALBAR and ThinkAdvisor conducted a survey of leading financial institutions to catalog the authentication practices currently being used across four points of entry into your records, including: websites, mobile devices, interactive voice response units (“IVR”), telephone contact centers, and online statements. This Executive Summary provides an overview of these defenses and allows your organization to compare its own cybersecurity practices to the financial community at large.
Multi-sector Cyber-defense Collaborative (“MCC”) is a membership group formed to identify and share the most effective practices being used by financial services institutions and service providers to combat the threat of cybercrime. Through a combination of in-person and virtual meetings, each member gains access to the combined knowledge of MCC members. Tools are in place to allow a free exchange of ideas and to provide advance notice of potential cyber threats.
DALBAR’s Authentication Trends Report assists financial institutions in determining which practices need to be added or enhanced and the sequence for making improvements based on the risk, cost, timeframe and hurdles to overcome. This report breaks down the cyber-defenses currently in place for various points of entry, lines of business and audiences. Potential vulnerabilities are identified, as are specific practices gaining traction and falling out of favor. This report will assist institutions in setting priorities based on risk, cost, timeframe and hurdles to overcome.
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State of the Industry: Financial Services Mobile Landscape
Gain unparalleled insight into the current direction of the financial services mobile industry that will help you prioritize future enhancements and stay in the customer's view. Series includes Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Trends and Innovations, and Rankings and Ratings of mobile sites and apps.
In order to remain 'in the customer's view', financial firms must stay current and leverage the mobile Web to establish a meaningful presence on their customers’ devices. However, two overarching questions remain: exactly what content should be mobile accessible and what is the best way to utilize screen space?
DALBAR's Mobile InSIGHT analyzed financial services firms’ mobile optimized Web sites and recognized those who create a meaningful user experience fit for mobile consumption.
Mobile InSIGHT – Innovations in the World of Apps
This report analyzes financial services firms’ mobile software applications and recognizes those pacesetters whose mobile apps have led them to a higher, more continuous level of visibility. Read about trends and best practices, see app ratings, benchmarking stats and more.
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When it comes to e-Delivery programs, understanding customer needs is a key determinant of success. With so many financial services firms facing challenges in improving e-Delivery adoption rates, DALBAR has put together a unique and innovative study of online search behavior related to e-Delivery that can help firms better understand what customers are looking for and in turn better plan for e-Delivery adoption campaigns.
This industry leading report provides an overview of e-Delivery search behavior on Google by geographical location in the US as well as by age, gender and household income. In addition, this report provides an analysis of the kinds of search terms users interested in e-Delivery are relying on to find solutions to their reporting needs.
State of the Industry: Online e-Delivery Election Experience uncovers the process of consenting to electronic delivery. DALBAR reviewed 42 unique e-Delivery election experiences across four segments of the financial services industry: Retirement, Life Insurance & Annuity, Mutual Funds and Brokerage.
DALBAR identifies the biggest e-Delivery concerns that the Financial Services industry faces, highlighting:
NEW! Investor Insights: Paperless Delivery
This report identifies investors’ feelings toward adopting paperless delivery, uncovers what factors drove them to enroll and reveals challenges in converting those not yet sold on this delivery method.
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Financial services and insurance contact centers face many unique challenges, from a tight regulatory/compliance environment, to complicated products to ever-increasing customer expectations. DALBAR’s Trends & Best Practices in Financial Services Contact Centers study is designed to help you thrive in this challenging environment by providing broad-based financial services and insurance specific benchmarks and best practices.
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Our world has changed rapidly over the past eight months, which has included an unprecedented market collapse and recovery. Financial professionals have had a critical role in helping Americans maintain their nest eggs throughout the crisis, but how have they done?
Can automated advice adequately service investors during times of crisis? The COVID market crisis and subsequent recovery in 2020 presented robo-advisers with arguably their first critical test and DALBAR’s Investor Insights: COVID-19 and Robo Advice report is the robo-advisor industry's first report card.
This package includes two Investor Insights reports that capture investors' thoughts and experiences related to financial advice and automated advice during the COVID-19 market crisis and the months that followed.
Investor Preferences are constantly evolving and today’s customers expect much more of the companies they choose to do business with. It’s time to get a solid understanding of what your customers are looking for. This study combines DALBAR’s Customer Experience expertise with input from some of the top providers in the financial services industry, and will determine exactly where customer preferences lie.
This report identifies investors’ feelings toward adopting paperless delivery, uncovers what factors drove them to enroll and reveals challenges in converting those not yet sold on this delivery method.
Investors are utilizing new technologies but the statement is still widely used to obtain account details. This report delves into how statements are utilized, including common sections deemed critically important or not important and examines investor opinions on statement design.
Does having an advisor contribute to positive investing behavior? This report looks at the difference in engagement between those with and those without professional guidance, their communication preferences and online behaviors. Understanding these substantial differences can help firms prioritize enhancements and target those individuals who are active and engaged in their finances.
DALBAR’s Investor Insights study on Online Security identifies the priority clients place on their financial firms’ security measures as well as their impressions of those practices (that are visible to them). Survey participants were also asked to confess to their own precarious online behavior and this report also offers best-in-class security tactics currently utilized by financial firms.
Investors share their feelings about what features of their firms’ websites are most useful, which ones are not, and what activities they routinely perform online.
The measurement of financial success of a defined contribution retirement plan is the ability of the plan to fund the retirement of the employees that the plan serves. This study presents the aggregate results of plan characteristics that drive employee behaviors with respect to participation and contributions made by participants.
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