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Fiduciary Training

December 21, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Welcome to Our Fiduciary Training Page! We are passionate about fiduciary responsibility and we want to help you learn your roles and responsibilities as a fiduciary. If you are interested in learning a little more, here is what you can do:

1. Watch this video on basic fiduciary responsibility.

Sheldon Smith, an ERISA attorney with Bryan Cave LLP, has been one of the country’s foremost continuing professional education instructors for thirty years. In his video below, Mr. Smith provides a summary of the duties imposed on plan fiduciaries and best practices fiduciaries should follow regarding plan governance.

Video Transcript

2. Take the Follow-up Quiz. Are you comfortable with the information presented by Mr. Smith? Take our five-question quiz and see for sure! Take the Quiz

3. If you’re very dedicated to your education, then read the DOL’s brochure: Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities.

4. Review the ERISA Fiduciary Advisor, which provides information and answers to a variety of questions about who is a fiduciary and their responsibilities under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

5. If you want to further improve your fiduciary expertise, take a comprehensive online training, Fiduciary Essentials^® for Investment Stewards, based on the work of the Center for Fiduciary Studies.^™

Fiduciary Training with fi360 will help you understand the more detailed responsibilities of plan fiduciaries, and provide greater insight into the legal framework that regulates the fiduciary experience. To help plan stewards more easily understand the seven precepts of a fiduciary, there are sections that explain: the roles of the different plan actors; the seven fiduciary precepts; how a plan fiduciary is to apply each precept; and how these precepts have played out in the legal and regulatory framework

Main issues in litigation and regulation are topics on our blog, and covered by plan sponsor-oriented media sources like PLANSPONSOR magazine and Benefits Pro. To keep yourself fully informed after taking this full training, these news sources are the best way to access information about current issues and regulatory changes.

Employee Education

December 21, 2016 by Ashley Leave a Comment

Employee Education is an important part of developing financial literacy for your employees. Castle Rock Investment Company provides live webinars on a quarterly basis to review the basic concepts necessary for the accumulation and decumulation (retirement) stages of their lives and answer questions they may have.

Below is a sampling of past webinars:

Target Date Funds Made Simple: An overview of glide paths, fees, and how best to use a target date fund to achieve your retirement goals.
Click Here to Listen

Can I Rely on Social Security?: An overview of the Social Security benefit formula, financial status of the program, and projection of future benefits.
Click Here to Listen

Retirement Paycheck: Income Solutions: Kelli Hueler, CEO and founder of Hueler Companies, provides an overview of guaranteed lifetime income, how to calculate your income gap, and how to obtain an annuity quote with no purchase obligation through Income Solutions®.
Click Here to Listen

Budgeting Strategies that Work!: Carol S. Craigie, CFP, ChFC, MA, author of “The Psychology of Money” and founder of Fiscal Fitness Clubs of America provides an overview of practical tips on establishing and sticking to a budget.
Click Here to Listen

How Do I Create Monthly Income in Retirement?: An overview of common retirement income strategies.
Click Here to Listen

Traditional versus Roth 401(k): An overview of the difference between traditional and Roth 401(k) monies and the 5-year Roth “Clock”.
Click Here to Listen

The Basics of Asset Allocation: An overview of the concepts surrounding asset allocation and the construction of target date fund glide paths.
Click Here to Listen

Replacing Your Income in Retirement: An overview of replacement ratios, Social Security benefits, and target savings rates.
Click Here to Listen

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Family Love Letter Event

December 14, 2016 by admin

Did you know you can gift your Itunes, American Express points, and airline miles to a designated recipient in the event of your death (but only if it’s included in the will!)? Or that if a family member dies you can get refunds on their unused subscription accounts?

These are just a couple of the interesting facts we learned last night at our Family Love Letter event.

We were fortunate to have Karen Shirley, an estate planning attorney, to answer our questions about our wills!

We also received tools to gather all our information in one place for our families. We each walked away with a booklet where we will provide a huge amount of information, from informing our loved ones what type of burial we desire to passwords of accounts that will need to be closed if something happens to us.

We had a fun (and sometimes emotional) night of good food, sharing, and learning incredibly valuable lessons.

Karen Drancik from Neuberger Berman kicked off the evening by sharing stories of individuals in situations with an incapacitated family member (due to Alzheimer’s, dementia, or in some cases, death) and went through extraordinarily stressful situations trying to locate information during their time of grief and confusion. She also shared stories of individuals who had completed their Family Love Letter booklet and gave their families an enormous gift of peace during that time.

Karen Drancik sharing stories and information on how to get your affairs in order before you’re unable.

Karen explained how having difficult conversations before it becomes urgent can help families avoid overly emotional discussions and rash decisions for everyone involved. Developing a plan that includes what is valuable to family members, who will make decisions if someone is incapacitated, and dictating what you wish for your funeral can bring peace during a tumultuous time.

Simply documenting all information that family members will need to know and keeping it somewhere they can locate it easily is an enormous gift to your loved ones. The Family Love Letter booklet takes it a step further by inviting you to write down beloved traditions and even recipes to remember you by.

We were reminded to create a plan for surviving pets, and to create a list of people in your life who should be contacted in the event of your death.

We discussed that it would perhaps be easier to create all these documents digitally, but writing them in your own hand will provide a valuable keepsake for your family. One individual in the audience still has the document his grandfather wrote describing his Ethical Will, describing what he hopes his family will remember of him. Family Love Letter provides a space for you to write these items down.

Attendees were surprised at the amount of information included in the Family Love Letter booklet they hadn’t thought of.

Several audience members inquired how to handle situations with their parents.

Several members of the audience had very emotional questions pertaining to their parents who are suffering from Alzheimer’s, and mentioned how much they wished they had come across a tool like Family Love Letter before their parents began to forget details. Others had questions about whether someone without children or a spouse should have a document like this. (Karen’s response, by the way, was a resounding “YES!”)

Take a look at what one of the attendees had to say about the evening:

“Several years ago, my husband and I took a trip to India. Preparing for the trip made me begin to think of things I should share with my family in the event of a tragedy. I tried to think of any information they might need, and started putting together a binder of information for them with information on bank accounts, insurance, stocks, and other important materials.

Last night, I attended an event called “Family Love Letter – A Holiday Affair” hosted by Castle Rock Investment Company.

Karen Drancik presented a brilliantly concise and thoughtful method of capturing all the necessary information for a surviving family when one passes away. This not only includes financial and investment information, but every imaginable detail including people to notify, funeral and burial wishes, down to a request to airlines to disperse frequent flier miles. What an amazing gift to leave my loved ones!

Thank you, Castle Rock Investment Company, for this important tool!”

-Becky Smoldt

Michele Suriano and Ashley Coombe of Castle Rock Investment Company.

We look forward to hosting the event again in the future. Please sign up for our newsletter if you would like to receive information about dates. If you’d like to set up a time to meet with us to go over this information individually, please call Michele Suriano at 303.725.7086. We look forward to hearing from you!

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Will Trump Repeal the Fiduciary Rule?

November 16, 2016 by admin

By Mack Bekeza

For those who work for Broker-Dealers and Registered Investment Advisers, no one is certain whether Donald Trump or the Republican Party will attempt to eliminate the Fiduciary Rule or keep it intact. But before we get ahead of ourselves it is important to ask one question, will Donald Trump or the Republican Party be able to dismantle the Fiduciary Rule before it becomes enforceable on April 10^th, 2017?

Although we cannot answer this question in confidence just yet, repealing this legislation will be quite a task for a few reasons:

With the Fiduciary Rule being effective since April 2016, the rule cannot just simply be thrown out by an executive order. It is also worthy to note that the legislation took 6 years to be written, so the likelihood of the DOL eliminating it is extremely slim.
Broker-Dealers, Insurance Firms, and Investment Advisers have already spent significant resources in designing compliance friendly products and re-inventing their business platforms. So, if the rule were to be thrown out, the government could have dozens of lawsuits on their hands, especially from those who were for the rule.
Despite the Republican Party holding the majority in Congress, they still do not have enough seats to overthrow a filibuster from the Senate. In addition, repealing legislation can take months or even years, during which the rule could have been enforceable for a notable amount of time.
With Donald Trump already planning to tackle dozens of issues in his first 100 days, repealing the Fiduciary Rule is more than likely not his top priority. The rule will also become enforceable by the 80^th day of his presidency.

Although it appears that the Fiduciary Rule is here to stay, we will keep you updated if there is anything that will threaten the rule.

Prepare for the Unexpected!

November 15, 2016 by admin

By Mack Bekeza

Ever wonder what would happen if you were not able to make critical decisions by yourself because you were incapacitated? Is there anything you can do to prepare for the unexpected? Yes, there is! While you are still able to do so, there are three crucial documents that all adults should have to be prepared for one of life’s major curveballs. The documents include:

The Financial Power of Attorney (“FPOA”): This is a document that allows an individual (the “principal”) to appoint someone (an “agent”) to make financial decisions on their behalf. This authority can be in effect immediately or come into force when the principal is incapacitated. This can also be beneficial for those who travel internationally and will not be available to sign financial documents.
The Medical Power of Attorney (“MPOA”): This is a document that appoints an agent to make most medical decisions on someone’s behalf if they are incapacitated. It is crucial to also include something called a HIPAA waiver which will allow the agent to access medical records. Without the HIPAA waiver, the agent might not be able to act in the best interest of the principal due to lack of information. It is also important to know that if the principal is in terminal condition, a MPOA will not suffice. In that instance, there is another document that will.
The Living Will/Advanced Directive: This document will allow an individual to decide how they want to be treated in the instance that they are in terminal condition and cannot communicate verbally. For instance, the individual can elect to refuse to be on life support or to be heavily medicated so they can pass peacefully. But perhaps the reason why this document is so crucial is because it will remove the burden from family members required to make these painful decisions and can even prevent families from falling apart due to disagreements.

So, what if you have children or if you were to pass away earlier than expected? If so, how can you communicate those wishes to your children along with other family members?

On December 13th, Castle Rock Investment Company is hosting a holiday event about how you can communicate your wishes to your loved ones with a “Love Letter.” The Love Letter™ just might be one of the best gifts you can give to your family! If you would like to learn more about this event, please go to www.castlerockinvesting.com and register on our home page. You will be glad you did!

For additional information on the event or to register, please contact Kristen Sanchez at Kristen@castlerockinvesting.com.

Castle Rock Investment Company to Host “Family Love Letter” Event

November 8, 2016 by admin

47ee43aa-111a-469e-92e2-41dddf180628 Castle Rock Investment Company (“Castle Rock”) is accepting registrations for its complimentary event: “Family Love Letter: A Family Affair,” to be held on December 13th from 5:00pm-7:30pm at its office in Castle Rock, Colorado.

At this event, attendees will learn how they can prepare for a time of loss or incapacity by creating their own Family Love Letter. This planning will prevent rash decisions and mistakes at a time of grief or confusion and serve as a guide for a smooth transition.

“We are so excited to host an event that will assist families in creating a sound future for their loved, ones,” said Michele Suriano, President of Castle Rock Investment Company. “Creating a Family Love Letter can help with sensitive conversations that families must have about preserving, protecting, and transferring the legacy that loved ones leave behind.”

During the workshop, participants will be given a workbook to complete that includes information on assets, advisers, liabilities, insurance benefits, documents and family history.

REGISTER

The event will be held at Castle Rock’s office at 333 Perry Street, Third Floor Conference Room in Castle Rock, Colorado.

For additional information on the event or to register, please contact Kristen Sanchez at Castle 303.719.7523 or by emailing her at Kristen@castlerockinvesting.com.

Morgan Stanley Sticking With Commissions

October 28, 2016 by admin

By Mack Bekeza

Morgan Stanley recently announced how it plans to comply with the impending Fiduciary Rule. As expected, Morgan Stanley did not follow the Merrill Lynch path. Instead, it plans to operate under a provision of the rule called “Best-Interest-Contract Exemption (“BICE”)”. In other words, Morgan Stanley’s strategy is to tackle the compliance requirements and have its clients sign additional disclosures.

Morgan Stanley has decided to take the BICE route because it believes that its “advisers can most effectively uphold a fiduciary standard of care and work in clients’ bests interests by continuing to offer choice.” Morgan Stanley further stated, “Delivering a retirement account platform based on fiduciary principles that provides the widest possible capabilities and preserves client choice is our vote of confidence in our advisers’ continuing commitment to placing client interests first.”

Essentially, Morgan Stanley believes that offering clients the choice between having a commission-based or fee-based retirement account is in the client’s best interest. This also assumes that Morgan Stanley advisers will not sell or recommend certain alternative investments that might not optimally meet a client’s liquidity and retirement needs.

In our opinion, Morgan Stanley may have chosen its business model to differentiate itself from Merrill Lynch. Many advisers only sell commission-based products and want to work for a large broker dealer. The rule points out that paying commissions may be in a client’s best interest (versus asset-based fees) if they have few transactions. However, the firm might still come under fire if its clients believe they are being misled. At the end of the day, it’s about putting the clients first.

If you would like to read further into the decision, check out Investment News’s post about Morgan Stanley’s decision.

Will Morgan Stanley Replicate Merrill Lynch?

October 20, 2016 by admin

By Mack Bekeza

During Morgan Stanley’s third quarter earnings conference call, James Gorman (CEO of Morgan Stanley) stated that the firm will announce their plan to comply with the DOL’s upcoming Fiduciary rule within the next couple of weeks. However, James Gorman did state that “we are not changing things”, “we run our business with the values of doing everything we can to support our clients and we will continue to do so.” In other words, Morgan Stanley will more than likely not go the Merrill Lynch route by no longer offering commission based IRA accounts.

So, if Morgan Stanley decides not to forgo commission based retirement accounts, what would be another possible strategy for them? Although the Fiduciary Rule will technically still allow commissions, it will be required for brokers and advisors to disclose all conflicts of interests to their clients with retirement accounts. It is also important to note that Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division currently oversees $2.1 trillion in client assets, with $855 billion of those assets being under a fee-based model which is a 75% increase from the third quarter of last year. In other words, Morgan Stanley’s strategy could have a significant ripple effect with their clients as well as their advisors.

In addition, Morgan Stanley was charged by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with “conducting an unethical, high-pressure, sales contest amongst its financial advisors to encourage clients to borrow money against their brokerage accounts.” Morgan Stanley says the allegation is “without merit” and will “vigorously” defend itself. Please note that Morgan Stanley has $70 Billion in client loan balances, which is a new record according to them.

With Morgan Stanley’s strong stance on how they run their business, it will be very interesting to see how this will all play out in the next couple of weeks. And if the charges from Massachusetts are correct, Morgan Stanley will face a world of hurt from regulators and potentially lose client assets. Click on the links to read further into Morgan Stanley’s conference call and the Massachusetts allegations.

Fiduciary Training

Employee Education

Family Love Letter Event

Will Trump Repeal the Fiduciary Rule?

Prepare for the Unexpected!

Castle Rock Investment Company to Host “Family Love Letter” Event

Morgan Stanley Sticking With Commissions

Will Morgan Stanley Replicate Merrill Lynch?

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