Towson, Md. – February 19, 2014- Greenspring Wealth Management, Inc., recently named one of the Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers in the United States by PLANADVISER Magazine, is pleased to announce the official launch of the (k)larity Quotient℠, the retirement industry’s first fiduciary performance framework to help plan fiduciaries and retirement plan committees manage corporate retirement plans with purpose. The goal of the (k)larity Quotient℠ is to help companies enhance the overall effectiveness and management of a corporate retirement plan so that participants have a higher probability of retiring successfully and corporate fiduciary liability is minimized.
Based on nearly a decade of research, experience, and innovation, the (k)larity Quotient℠ combines both benchmarking and diagnostic capabilities and offers plan sponsors a simple, yet profound method for quantifying the critical aspects of a high performing retirement plan. Using a pass/fail system, the (k)larity Quotient℠ analyzes nearly 40 key performance indicators (KPIs) across the 4 key dimensions that drive plan success: fiduciary responsibility, plan design and performance, fees and expenses, and employee engagement. Then, a unique (k)Q℠ score between 0 and 100 is calculated using Greenspring’s proprietary weighting methodology which is compared to other plans in Greenspring’s database with comparable characteristics (e.g., plan assets, number of participants, industry, provider) as well as Greenspring’s own client base. More importantly, plan sponsors receive an easy-to-understand, 10-12 page report that shows them precisely what’s working with their plan and what isn’t as well as customized, actionable recommendations to improve their (k)Q℠.
“Being responsible for a corporate retirement plan isn’t easy and sadly, most plan aren’t managed well or with any clear purpose or direction, leading to risk for companies and worry for employees,” says Joshua P. Itzoe, CFP®, AIF®, Partner & Managing Director of Greenspring’s Institutional Client Group. “The (k)larity Quotient℠ revolutionizes the way companies design, measure and manage corporate retirement plans by giving plan fiduciaries an easy way to identify and fix issues before they became problems. Utilizing industry-leading best practices, targets and thresholds, the (k)larity Quotient℠ takes the guesswork and complexity out plan management and leads to better results for both companies and their people.”
The (k)larity Quotient℠ differs from traditional, first-generation benchmarking tools that are primarily comparison-focused rather than improvement-focused and plagued by many issues such as stale data, significant amounts of time required to gather data, a “one-size fits all” approach and difficult to make actionable.
“As an industry, we’ve fooled plan sponsors into only focusing on how their plans compare against others rather than providing a framework to help them make thoughtful and purposeful plan-related decisions that drive meaningful improvement and make a real impact,” says Itzoe. “The power of the (k)larity Quotient℠ is its simplicity and transparency. It helps plan fiduciaries and retirement plan committees focus their attention and decision-making on the key areas that matter and gives them a clear, customized gameplan that drives improvement and leads to higher (k)Q℠ scores over time. We believe there is simply no easier way to manage a retirement plan than with the (k)larity Quotient℠.”
Calculating a plan’s (k)larity Quotient℠ is a very simple and straightforward process, typically requiring a time commitment of roughly 30 minutes for plan sponsors to fill out a questionnaire and gather 4-5 necessary documents. Companies that are interested in learning more can fill out the contact request form at http://www.greenspringwealth.com/KQ.
Greenspring has also created a short, 75-second animated video to help explain the (k)larity Quotient℠ which can be viewed at www.greenspringwealth.com/KQ.
