401k Plan Participants Want Help with Investment Decisions Reports Disciplined Capital Management.

Business Editors

SYRACUSE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 25, 2004

Disciplined Capital Management (DCM) is experiencing a steady stream of 401(k) plan participants enrolling in the Professionally Managed Account Option (PMA). The PMA allows participants to retain DCM to professionally manage the account on their behalf based on the individual's retirement goals. DCM then makes the investment decisions from the mutual fund options offered by their 401(k) plan, monitoring and rebalancing the account as necessary.

A recent survey concluded that 93% of 401(k) plan participants believe that "unbiased investment advice is important or very important," yet only 6% feel their employer is doing an excellent job of providing these services (Cerulli and Associates). Employees are coming to realize that their 401(k) plan will be their primary source of retirement income and many do not have the ability or confidence to make appropriate investment decisions.

DCM is one of the first firms to provide a Professionally Managed Account Option to 401(k) plan participants. "The program evolved over a period of four years," according to Craig Buckhout, a Principal of DCM. "We started with traditional education about investments, then offered investment advice, and finally realized that professional management is the real solution for many plan participants. We found many people went from wanting to be taught what to do, then progressed to wanting us to tell them what to do, and finally asked us to do it for them. Our testing lab has been a 401(k) plan with over 11,000 active participants nationwide."

Many 401(k) plan participants do not understand the complexities of the financial markets and readily admit it. "We often talk with participants who say they do not understand the stock market and don't want to," says Tony Farella of DCM. "No amount of education will make these people investment experts because they don't have an interest in the subject. We hear a sigh of relief when they understand they can enroll in the PMA option and let us make the investment decisions for them."

"Clearly we are entering an era where employers (plan sponsors) need to revisit their role as fiduciary of the retirement plans that they sponsor," says Buckhout. "Employers should seriously consider selecting an objective advice provider to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to employees. Based on our experience, we believe that participants will soon be demanding this service from all employer-sponsored plans, and we are pleased to be in the forefront,"

Disciplined Capital Management, established in 1991, is an independent, locally owned investment advisory firm located in Central New York. DCM provides services to a broad spectrum of clients to help them meet long-term investment goals using scientifically derived and empirically tested approaches to capital markets.