February 2009
Stable Value - There are risks
Challenge: In
mid-2008 Blue Prairie Group (BPG) met with a Fortune 500 company
headquartered in Texas that sponsors a 401(k) plan with $1.4 billion
in total assets and 45,000 participants. Although the prospect had
originally wanted to meet because of a concern about one of their
core equity funds, BPG quickly identified a significant fiduciary
problem with their stable value fund that needed to be addressed
immediately:
Results: BPG
conducted a due diligent search and contacted six quality stable
value managers that met 1. specific criteria within our proprietary
stable value database. BPG retained the services of a third-party
“wrap contract expert” to identify the details of the existing wrap
contracts to and in particular, to understand the portability of
these contracts to another investment manager. BPG recognized the
challenges of transitioning the portfolio during the national credit
crisis...
FULL STORY PDF
May 2008
Why hire a fiduciary-based investment consultant?
Challenge: One of
Blue Prairie Group’s (BPG) retained investment consulting clients
offered an intermediate bond index fund to its participants in a
separate account structure. The fund was highly levered and used
derivative products to enhance its performance. When the sub prime
and credit crisis began to unfold in the summer of 2007, this fund
began to unravel quickly.
Results: After
completing an in-depth review of the fund, BPG’s Investment
Analytics Team concluded that there was significant risk of keeping
this fund in the core lineup. BPG convened a special ad hoc
meeting with the client’s investment committee and recommended that
all of the fund’s assets be mapped immediately to another bond index
fund that BPG had already established as not having any sub prime
exposure and which met the selection criteria outlined in the
client’s custom investment policy statement...
FULL STORY PDF
March 2008
Review of benefit program improved employee retirement
readiness
Challenge: A large
non-profit organization with more than 300 locations across
northeastern Illinois asked Blue Prairie Group to assist them in a
strategic retirement plan redesign. The defined benefit plan, with
total assets in excess of $400 million, included 10,000 participants
and the 403(b) plan, with $60 million in assets, included 3,500
participants out of 10,000 eligible.
Results: Blue
Prairie Group managed the process to freeze the defined benefit
pension plan and implement a comparable age-weighted defined
contribution plan. The age-weighted formula resulted in a benefit
level comparable to the benefit previously accrued under the DB
plan, and allowed the organization to more accurately plan and
budget pension costs...
FULL STORY PDF
November 2007
Overhauling a defined contribution plan drives down the total cost
for the benefit of participants
Challenge: A
multi-national conglomerate with US headquarters in Chicago asked
Blue Prairie Group to identify their DC Plan’s market rate cost
structure. The plan had assets of $750 million and 8,500
participants.
Results: Blue
Prairie Group (BPG) conducted a plan benchmarking study to identify
the market rate cost structure. BPG negotiated an annual fee
savings of $480,000 for the exclusive benefit of plan participants.
Over a five-year period, the plan saved approximately $2.7 million
dollars...
FULL STORY PDF
April 2007
Blue Prairie
Group Retained HR Steps in to Help
Challenge:
A multi-site manufacturer based
in the northern suburbs of Chicago was looking for a new director
of human resources (the CHRO for this business.) The position had
been open for months and the entire HR department was suffering
from a lack of direction. There was a growing backlog of important
items on the CHRO to-do list, but no one qualified to take them
on.
Results:
The Blue Prairie Group
consultant accomplished a lot during his short time with the
organization. Here’s a partial list: Recruited a new Director of
Human Resources...
FULL STORY PDF
February 2006
"Excess" Revenue: A New
Paradigm for Driving Down Total Plan Costs
Challenge: A
Chicago-based telecommunications company asked Blue Prairie Group
to assist them in a due diligent search to select a new service
provider. The client wanted to reduce total plan costs.
Results: The client changed its plan provider and revamped
the investment line-up. The total cost of the client's plan was
significantly reduced.
FULL STORY PDF
November 2005
Overhauling a 401(k) Portfolio Drives Down the Total Cost of the
Plan for the Benefit of Participants
Blue Prairie Group
completed a project for an Ohio-based subsidiary of a
foreign-owned global manufacturing company and helped them to
select a new 401(k) service provider, revamp their 401(k)
investment lineup and significantly drive down the total cost of
their plan.
FULL STORY PDF
September 2005
"401(k) Portfolio Overhaul: Driving Down Total Plan Cost for
Participants"
Blue Prairie Group
completed a project for a large public company based in the
northern suburbs of Chicago and helped them to revamp their 401(k)
investment lineup and significantly drive down the total cost of
their plan.
FULL STORY PDF
August 2005
"Whose Money is it Anyway?"
We believe that the
question, "Whose money is it anyway?" needs to be asked more often
by plan sponsors.
Blue Prairie Group recently helped an Indiana client reduce the
total cost of their plan, revamp their investment portfolio
including custom lifestyle funds and capture "excess revenue" back
to the plan...
FULL STORY PDF
August 2004
Ounce of Prevention Fund Works "Overtime"
The most significant revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in more than 50 years are scheduled to go into effect on August 23. Jo Ann Paszczyk, Director of Human Resources for the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a nonprofit organization identifying, funding and evaluating innovative programs for children and families, asked Blue Prairie Group to help her identify which jobs are affected by the new regulations.
FULL STORY PDF
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