New York (March 5, 2004) -- As part of efforts to provide additional services to its clients with retirement plans, top-ranked CPA firm Eisner LLP has launched Eisner Retirement Solutions LLC, a registered broker/dealer.
The creation of the broker/dealer expands the services offered by the firm's employee benefits practice and enables Eisner to provide services it couldn't offer through the accounting firm, according to Peter Alwardt, principal of Eisner RS and partner in the CPA firm. Alwardt has led Eisner's employee benefits group since September of 2002.
Eisner RS offerings include investment, actuarial, tax advisory and administrative services for defined benefit and defined contribution plans, non-qualified executive deferred compensation and equity plans, as well as fiduciary and participant education, retirement plan design consulting, investment performance analysis, and Form 5500 preparation.
"What we've seen in the marketplace is that plan sponsors aren’t receiving the best service from their brokers regarding their fiduciary responsibilities," said Alwardt. "A broker/dealer should help plan sponsors develop policies as to how they select investments for their plan, how they monitor those investments, and how they educate the participants with respect to investing for retirement."
He noted, "Clients were asking for a couple of things. They wanted more flexibility in terms of the fund offerings they can provide. And, on occasion, they were asking us for help with the investment side, but because we weren't registered, we were precluded from doing that. This allows us to provide a complete service to our client base."
According to Alwardt, the firm's typical client employs 50 to 500 people and has $1 million to $25 million in assets in their plan.
-- Melissa Klein
