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Synopsis:
For more than 30 years, successful investors and sophisticated investment committees have used the IPS as their “business plan” for managing critical investment decisions. Now this compact new strategy guide provides you with a useful tool that will help you comply with your ERISA-directed requirement with easy-to-follow templates and samples. You will gain intimate knowledge that will provide you with the confidence that you are servicing your clients with the highest standards of care and protection. A must guide for any financial service professionals for developing an IPS.
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Jacket Description:
“The preparation and maintenance of the Investment Policy Statement is the most critical function a fiduciary performs… this compact strategy guide provides advisors and their fiduciary clients with a useful tool that will help them comply with their ERISA-directed requirement.”
- Donald B. Trone, AIFA
Foundation for Fiduciary Studies
ERISA and other guidelines have long required fiduciaries to implement a uniform process for drafting an Investment Policy Statement (IPS). But historically, enforcement was lax, leaving companies little motivation to develop a formal practice.
Now, times have changed. Corporate scandals coupled with volatility in the markets have generated an increase in complaints, lawsuits and even the possibility of government legislation requiring an official IPS. This compact guide will help financial advisors, plan sponsors, money managers and all professional fiduciaries protect themselves, stay in compliance - and stay one step ahead of government mandate - by putting a simple IPS process in place.
Industry pro Jack Gardner provides an easy-to-follow framework for producing a well-written IPS based on practices recognized by the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies. IN clear terms, he outlines how to…
- Define duties and responsibilities of all parties involved
- Clarify diversification guidelines and keep costs in check
- Identify due diligence criteria for selecting investment options
PLUS: 2 sample Policy Statements are included, which can be downloaded directly from the website at: www.thornburg.com/IPS . Both templates make implementing a proper IPS easier and more accurate.
Prepare documents that meet all industry standards of compliance and federal regulations with relative ease - every time - while protecting yourself and your firm from liability using this guidebook.
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Table of Contents:
FOREWORD
SECTION ONE: Why Plan Sponsors and ALL Fiduciaries Need a Formal Process for Writing Their Investment Policy Statement
Chapter 1: ERISA and the Challenge of Fiduciary Responsibility
Chapter 2: Your Fiduciary Responsibilities and Liabilities Under ERISA
Chapter 3: What is an Investment Policy Statement and What are the Benefits?
Chapter 4: Utilize the “Safe Harbor” Provisions Provided by ERISA
Chapter 5: Complying with ERISA Section 404(c)
SECTION TWO: How to Get Started and Steps to Formalize the Process
Chapter 6: Assembling the Documentation
Chapter 7: Steps to Formalize the Process
SECTION THREE: The Template IPS
Chapter 8: Sample IPS Templates
Chapter 9: Sample IPS Template #1: For Participant-Directed 401(k) that Intends
Comply with ERISA Section 404(c)
Chapter 10: Sample IPS Template #2: For High-Net-Worth Individual Setting Up a Family Trust
CONCLUSION
GLOSSARY
THE FIRM PROFILE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Review:
An Investment Policy Statement is one of the most critical documents all fiduciaries must draft. And for years, ERISA and other industry regulations have governed the guidelines all fiduciaries must comply with when drafting an Investment Policy Statement for clients. However, the current climate of corporate scandal and the post-2000 market slowdown has dramatically increased the number of lawsuits and investor-related complaints in recent years. Therefore, increased scrutiny by regulators is causing firms around the country to make sure they have a formal process in place for drafting an IPS.
To stay in compliance, this compact new guide from Jack Gardner will assist advisors, trust officers, plan sponsors and other money managers protect themselves and their firm by staying in compliance with all regulations. Gardner provides a step-by-step plan for creating a uniform IPS that every advisor in the office can follow. With sample forms, letters and diagrams, Gardner defines duties & responsibilities of all parties involved, he clarifies diversification guidelines and provides methods for keeping costs in control and he provides diligence criteria for selecting investment options. Gardner even includes sample Policy Statements which can be downloaded directly from the Thornburg.com website.
This issue is so hot right now, Congress is even contemplating adding legislation requiring a formal IPS process. With this simple, template-style handbook in hand every fiduciary and every employer can institute a formal, uniform IPS process simply and efficiently. It’s the only book of it’s type on the market – and with a ringing endorsement from the Foundation of Fiduciary Studies, it’s provides an excellent framework for getting and staying in compliance.
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