Benefits Think

Commentary: The best of the emerging broker decision-support tools will inspire a more customized set of benefits options for workers, and a growth in voluntary benefits participation. Those brokers who seize this opportunity will become indispensable to the coming transformation of the group benefits space.

Commentary: Tracking of employee hours must begin in January 2015 in order to comply with ACA and IRS mandates, so make sure your clients know the pros and cons of available measuring methods now.

Commentary: Promote the need for life insurance coverage before enrollment season, says The Standard’s John West, who provides several talking points advisers can address with clients.

Commentary: High-limit personal umbrella coverage can be a door-opener for brokers and consultants, says Sam Fleet, president of AmWINS Group Benefits.

Commentary: Despite perceived cost savings, most narrow networks have actually missed the opportunity to improve value — and their lack of transparency threatens to unleash a ferocious consumer backlash, says Dartmouth's Scott Wallace.

Frontier markets include countries like Lebanon, Nigeria, Vietnam, Slovenia and Argentina. Investing in frontier markets is more risky than investing in other international asset classes. In fact, the frontier markets asset class is probably the riskiest available to mutual fund and exchange-traded fund investors.

Commentary: Evolving technologies are creating a major shift in the enrollment landscape. Brokers and benefit advisers hoping to offer clients customized solutions need to stay in the know.

Predictions for 2014 open enrollment include more than 3 million employees being covered under private exchanges. Is this the new trend in employer-sponsored health care coverage?

Group annuities are common among 401(k)s because they appear to be cost effective, turnkey options. However, careful due diligence will reveal they are big aggressors when it comes to fees that hinder portfolio growth.

A recent alert from the Securities and Exchange Commission emphasized how easily and quickly false information can be spread via social media by market manipulators who may be posing as legitimate or trusted sources of information. Plan sponsors may want to communicate this information to their 401(k) plan participants.