Transamerica to Launch 3(21) Fiduciary Service

Mesirow Financial acts as investment co-fiduciary for investments on its Elite List, and protecting the plan sponsor from third-party lawsuits arising from issues regarding investment selection and monitoring, provided the sponsor selects funds from that list.  

Transamerica Retirement Services’ President Stig Nybo told sister publication PLANADVISER that he thinks the 3(21) service is quickly becoming “a must-have” for providers in the industry. “There is a need for advice at a plan level with regards to selecting investments,” he said. 

Transamerica says its 3(21) fiduciary service will:   

• Give plan sponsors the best resources available to make the best decisions possible as the plan’s fiduciary  
• Give financial advisers tools to assist in select the plan’s line-up  
• Allow plan sponsors to mitigate fiduciary risk. 

Additionally, Transamerica says the benefits of this service for advisers include:  

• The financial adviser remains the key contact for the client  
• The financial adviser can help the client to mitigate fiduciary risk  
• The financial adviser chooses his or her level of involvement. (The adviser can recommend a line-up to the sponsor using Mesirow's Elite List or Meisrow can recommend one of three line-ups based on plan demographics.)  

The program will be rolled out in the fourth quarter.