Securian staff were packed into a company classroom this summer for Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) class. Despite the crowded conditions, all 65 students passed the test, earning the right to carry the AIF designation and help retirement plan sponsor clients manage their fiduciary responsibilities. The 65 included the entire Securian Retirement sales staff, client servicing representatives, due diligence team members, broker-dealer employees, attorneys, actuaries, financial advisors, and others.
“Fiduciary responsibilities are a top concern among our clients as sponsors of qualified retirement plans,” said Vincent Giordano, vice president, Securian Retirement sales. “We feel it prudent to ensure that our associates acquire additional education and understanding in this critical area. The AIF training and certification is a respected source of fiduciary training.”
With its focus in the small employer retirement plan market, Securian provides several services aimed at helping plan sponsors carry out their fiduciary responsibilities as required by federal law. Those services include ongoing investment due diligence carried out by an experienced, in-house compliance team, an annual independent third party review of its investment array, an Array Analyzer, which helps plan sponsors identify investment options appropriate for their employee groups, and a variety of simplified saving and investing tools to help employees meet their retirement savings goals even when they are not willing or able to personally make investment selections.
The AIF designation is granted by the Center for Fiduciary Studies at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Along with the Center for Executive Education at the Katz School, the Center for Fiduciary Studies teaches fiduciary standards of care and investment best practices designed for investment professionals.
“We did not fund the AIF training and exam for 65 of our associates just to add another cluster of initials to their business cards,” said Giordano. “We wanted them to have meaningful training that will benefit our clients. That’s why we chose the AIF.”
Securian Retirement, a unit of Securian Financial Group (www.securian.com), has more than 70 years of experience in the retirement market and serves over 3,300 retirement plans with $10 billion in assets as of June 30, 2007. Securian Retirement offers annuities and retirement plans underwritten by Minnesota Life Insurance Company, a Securian affiliate and one of the highest rated life insurers in America (www.securian.com/about/financials).