The Directed Account Plan Board of Directors has selected Great-West Financial© as the new provider of administration and recordkeeping services for the DAP. The transition date of participant accounts to Great-West Financial is scheduled for October 2014.
As part of our commitment to provide you a plan with low fees, above benchmark performance, and investment options for all risk levels, DAP conducted an extensive selection process. After evaluating several service providers, Great-West Financial was selected based upon the extensive scope and outstanding quality of services to Plan participants. This is an exciting change that can benefit you in many ways:
- Ability to retain all current Plan features at a lower cost to the DAP participants
- Improvement in Plan communications and a very user-friendly website
- Ability for more choice in the core fund line-up
- Ability for future enhancements that will allow;
- Spouses to use the DAP for their IRAs
- Spousal beneficiaries to withdraw smaller Minimum Required Distributions (MRDs) – thus allowing them to pay less in taxes and keep more of their DAP assets deferred for future beneficiaries
- We will have a recordkeeping partner that is committed to helping the Plan grow through the addition of new participants
The Transition Process
To ensure accurate processing and verification of participant accounts, a transition period will occur in late September and early October. Your money will remain invested in the financial markets without interruption. Detailed information on the transition process and any necessary action on your part will be clearly communicated in a comprehensive Transition Bulletin, scheduled to be mailed to your home address in the coming months, and if you still are afraid of the process you can get financial advice from https://www.ledge.com.au/.
What do you need to do? Stay in the Plan!
Do nothing today! Your assets remain invested and services continue as usual. The DAP provides you and your beneficiaries a retirement program with low fees and investment flexibility. We are able to provide this superior offering largely due to our scale of accounts of more than 1,500 pilots and beneficiaries. You and your beneficiaries always have access to your account, and can cash an account out at any time. This has always been the case and continues with our new provider. Don’t feel the need to liquidate or transfer your accounts as a result of this upcoming change, as you would miss out on positive and beneficial enhancements with Great-West Financial.
Incumbent, Fidelity Investments, may proactively solicit you to transfer your accounts to an individual retirement account or retail account. By moving your account, you likely lose the benefit of a very low-cost plan made available via DAP, and DAP loses a long-time participant. The DAP has worked well for you for over 20 years. Let us continue to work well for you in the future with our new partner, Great-West Financial. Please keep your funds invested with DAP!
About Great-West Financial
Great-West Financial helps millions of Americans build greater financial security. With more than a century of experience and a history of financial strength and stability, Great-West Financial has earned the reputation as a trusted financial partner – to and through retirement.
Great-West Financial is the nation’s fourth-largest retirement plan recordkeeper (PLAN SPONSOR, June 2013, based on total participant accounts at December 31, 2012). It provided 401(k), 401(a), 403(b) and 457 retirement plan services to 30,000 plans representing 4.9 million participant accounts and $220 billion in assets at December 31, 2013. Great-West provides recordkeeping, administration, or investment services to 20 of the 50 states – more than any other service provider.
link to Great-West Financial Brochure
We look forward to communicating more information to you about this exciting change as we make the transition to our new service provider. If you have any questions, please call: Michelle Silberberg, Executive Director; or Marty Zygmund, Investment Officer of the DAP; at (314) 739-7373.