Author Archives: jwatkins

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About jwatkins

I am a securities and ERISA attorney. I hold CFP Board Emeritus™ status and I am an Accredited Wealth Management Advisor™. I provide fiduciary risk management consulting to 401k/430b plans, trustees, RIAs and other investment fiduciaries. I am a 1977 graduate of Georgia State University and a 1981 graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School. I am the author of "CommonSense InvestSense: The Power of the Informed Investor" and "The 401(k)/403(b) Investment Manual: What Plan Sponsors and Plan Participants REALLY Need To Know" I write two blogs, "CommonSense InvestSense, investsense.com, and "The Prudent Investment Fiduciary Rules, fiduciaryinvestsense.com. As a former compliance director, I have extensive experience in evaluating the legal prudence of various types of investments, including mutual funds and annuities. My goal is to combine my legal and compliance experience in order to help educate investors and investment fiduciaries on sound, proven investment strategies that will help them protect their financial security and/or avoid unnecessary fiduciary liability exposure.

Secrets to a Successful 401(k) Plan

Over the holidays I was catching-up on my reading. One of the articles I came across involved a debate over which metric was more effective in assessing the success of a defined contribution plan, a plan’s rate of participation or … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, retirement plans | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Seeing Is Believing: Marketing to Plan Sponsors

One of the most common questions I get is from advisor is how to convince plan sponsors that they need to review their plan for potential compliance issues.  When I ask plan sponsors what it takes to get their attention, … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fiduciaries, We Ain’t No Stinkin’ Fiduciaries: Help for Fiduciaries and Unsuspecting Fiduciaries

As a securities attorney that represents investors and provides consulting and compliance services to RIA firms, I can honestly say that one of the most common problems I encounter with RIA firms is a failure to develop an effective risk … Continue reading

Posted in compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Active Management Value Ratio™- Revealing the Undisclosed Cost of Actively Managed Mutual Funds

Despite overwhelming evidence that actively managed mutual funds generally under-perform passively managed index funds, the evidence indicates that most investors continue to purchase and hold actively managed funds.  Even when an actively managed fund does outperform its relevant index, the … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, 404c, 404c compliance, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, retirement plans, RIA Compliance, securities, securities compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is ERISA Section 408(b)(2) the New 401(k) Fiduciary’s Achilles’ Heel

On July 1st, the disclosure requirements of ERISA 408(b)(2) go into effect with regard to plan providers and plan sponsors.  Disclosure requirements between plan sponsors and plan participants are scheduled to go into effect at the end of August. Plan … Continue reading

Posted in 401k, 401k compliance, 401k investments, compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, investments, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Integrated Estate Planning: A Win-Win for Both Clients and Wealth Managers

The concept of wealth management is an interesting proposition.  A recent study by CEG Worldwide concluded that only 6 percent of those holding themselves out as wealth managers actually provided comprehensive wealth management services, with the remaining 94 percent simply … Continue reading

Posted in compliance, fiduciary compliance, fiduciary law, RIA Compliance, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five Legal Decisions Every RIA and Fiduciary Should Know

In his most recent book, “The New Wealth Management, “ respected industry expert Harold Evensky noted that investment advisers have an obligation to understand both their professional duties and their legal responsibilities.  While compliance violations often result in fines, legal … Continue reading

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SEC Focuses on Compliance and CCOs

SEC alert demonstrates need for CCOs to focus on both compliance and risk management, both for firm and personal protection.  http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20120205/REG/302059986

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Running the Investment Compliance “Gauntlet”

As most people know, I focus on helping RIA professionals with both compliance and risk management issues.  Far too many times I have performed compliance audits where the RIA has all of the required files and manuals, but a poor … Continue reading

Posted in 401k compliance, 404c compliance, compliance, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Compliance and Liability White Paper

With the new year comes the renewal of the debate over one universal fiduciary standard for those providing investment advice to the public.  What many compliance professionals do not realize is that many jurisdictions already impose a fiduciary standard on … Continue reading

Posted in 401k compliance, 404c compliance, compliance, investments, retirement plans, RIA, RIA Compliance, securities compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment