BUSINESS PROBLEM
Our Client, who serves both state and federally chartered credit unions located in the United States, needed an additional resource during year-end to interpret and prepare an assortment of SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act communication materials for external audiences and internal staff.
The volume and different types of communications going out year end and first month of the new year along with the scope in preparing and delivery of the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act materials presented the Client with challenges due to current resources and staffing model.
Our Client has various product types and customers (e.g., bundled plans, unbundled plans, plan sponsors, advisors, and TPAs), the administration process is product and customer specific, and some topics required customizing communication materials for up to four audience types.
Dependent on the specific communication materials and topics, they used a variety of processes and different internal teams to assist with sending out the materials.
OUR SOLUTION
Our Compliance Team staffed the correct resource who performed a deep dive into the Client’s processes, resolved any challenges that arose, and conducted a quality review:
The fully-remote resource had the following experience and expertise:
- Over 30 years of retirement plan industry background
- In-depth knowledge of the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act provisions
- A contributor with experience in creating content that can interpret SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act compliance rules to a variety of audiences
- Experience with various recordkeeping systems and processes
They performed the following tasks:
- Identify the SECURE Act and/or SECURE 2.0 Act provisions the Client to communicate
- Manage, network, and communicate with various stakeholders to confirm disclaimers needed, branding, formatting, contact numbers, and internal links while verifying applicable critical internal and external processes that were to be included in the materials
- Align delivery of the communication materials within a specific timeline. Some materials included links to certain videos that were still in the process of production which required coordination and networking with internal partners for final video links
- Prepare communication materials, meet with internal partners to confirm necessary administration processes that need to be included and submit for production
- Communicate delivery of the materials with management and internal partners
The communication materials provided details regarding certain SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 Act regulations along incorporating specific administration and recordkeeping processes. This required networking with a variety of internal associates to confirm and address additional administration changes and any applicable workarounds:
- Networking with various internal partners to understand processes in place for specific SECURE Act and/or SECURE 2.0 Act provisions that will impact client administration and incorporate in the content
- Accommodate midstream administration process changes that would pertain to certain audiences. This would require regrouping and meeting with various internal partners while they were building and/or reassessing the process to understand administrative impact in order create essential content language
- Preparing up to four versions of certain SECURE Act and/or SECURE 2.0 Act communication materials administratively specific dependent on the audience
- Communicate any discrepancies found in the Client’s current database used for SECURE Act and/or SECURE 2.0 Act provisions
The resource also conducted a quality review:
- Performed a thorough quality control review of the communication materials along with ensuring all provided links work in the final product
- Kept track of delivery timing and communicated updates during management meetings
- Performed comprehensive archiving of prepared communication materials
- Provided additional SECURE 2.0 Act content for future communication materials as leave behinds for our Client
RESULTS & CLIENT BENEFITS
We successfully created and prepared all assigned communication materials for delivery.
Conducted a deep dive into their internal processes to understand the customer experience and accurately explain the administrative details and impact of certain rules.
Created additional specific SECURE 2.0 Act content for future use.
Received positive feedback from the Client thereby enhancing their reputation and goodwill among its own Clients and within the industry.
Client Testimonial upon project completion:
“We faced resource constraints during the fourth quarter trying to balance our everyday work with a desire to create customer support materials for SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0. We needed someone who could hit the ground running with an understanding of retirement plan compliance requirements. Enterprise Iron was able to quickly place an experienced professional with us to interpret the regulations into documentation our customers could understand.”