Benefits May 19, 2009

Networking Most Useful Lead for Marketing Talent

May 19, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A recent survey by the Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), a nearly 2000 member, not-for-profit organization of senior-level marketing professionals, found that networking represented the most successful job lead source for marketing executives.
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However, according to a press release, the survey distinguished between professional and personal networking , and found it is three times more productive to network with your professional contacts than with your personal network . Thirty-seven percent of survey participants found their next job through professional networking, followed by 24% through recruiters, 14% through personal networking , 5% through MENG, and 20% by all other sources combined.

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The survey also found that it is taking women longer than their male counterparts to land their next marketing executive position. MENG members averaged 8.5 months in transition, with women marketing executives taking approximately one month longer than their male peers.

Respondents whose job search was successfully completed indicated they wish they had spent more time networking with professional contacts (75%) and leveraging online social networking platforms like LinkedIn (49%).

The MENG Job Search Survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2009 by Aline Strategies. A total of 430 senior marketing professionals who had been in job transition over the past three years contributed to the survey.

More information can be found at http://www.mengonline.com/visitors/newsroom .

Products May 18, 2009

P&A Adds ETFs to its Platform

May 18, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Buffalo, New York-based P&A Retirement Plan Services has announced a program that "allows participants of defined contribution plans to buy and sell ETFs like mutual funds."
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According to a press release, P&A Retirement Plan Services, part of the Buffalo, NY based P&A Group, is an open-architecture defined contribution recordkeeper and Third-Party Administrator, providing services to employer sponsored retirement plans.   The firm notes that, while “ETFs have long been attractive to fee-based financial advisors due to their low costs, diverse selection and their ability to trade like stocks but until now, they have been administratively difficult to utilize in retirement plans.”

P&A401(k), P&A403(b) and P&A457, working with Mid Atlantic Trust Company’s ETFxChange platform, now offer advisers the opportunity to access over 800 ETFs that the firm says “trade just like mutual funds,” and “…without the performance drag associated with other ETF offerings.”   The firm says that advisers can now utilize any combination of ETFs and mutual funds seamlessly in the same plan, including the ability to create model portfolios.

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“For plan sponsors and advisors who have been searching for a clean, easy to use ETF solution, this is the perfect answer. We are extremely excited to roll this out at a time when there is so much attention being paid to reducing plan level fees and expenses,” said Sean Zent, Vice President of Retirement Plan Sales.

In addition to its Buffalo, NY headquarters, P&A maintains sales offices in Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles. More information is available at www.padmin.com .

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