A three-legged stool

YOUR ARTICLE REGARDING 401(K) provider fees was outstanding ("Raiding the Returns," May). While this is a big problem for plan fiduciaries, they most often do not have the tools or knowledge to deal with it.

I see a lack of qualified advisers in this area, in part because broker/advisers who market the plans disappear when the residual revenue is so low that it doesn't pay them to stay involved and to guide the employer. The turnover compounds the problem, and obvious expenses get lost, not to mention the hidden expense of revenue sharing. Taking over are the vendor reps, whose paychecks depend on maintaining their companies' profits. Thus, the customer is in the hands of the "fox," and doesn't really know it.

Good business operates as a three-legged stool: it has to be good for the customer, the vendor, and the broker/adviser. Very seldom do I find harmony in this equation for a customer's 401(k).

Steve Miller

Independent pension consultant

Matsock and Associates

Phoenix

COPYRIGHT 2004 CFO Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group