Sample Glossary of Investment-Related Terms for Disclosures to Retirement Plan Participants

The “Sample Glossary of Investment-Related Terms for Disclosures to Retirement Plan Participants” responds to defined contribution plans’ need to comply with new Department of Labor participant disclosure regulations requiring plans to give participants specific information about plan investments, including fees and performance.

The Labor Department regulations require sponsors of participant-directed retirement plans to provide participants access to a glossary of investment-related terms. Many service providers expressed the need for an industry-wide glossary that retirement plans could use to satisfy this requirement. The Sample Glossary defines more than 170 terms that are likely to apply to a wide group of plans and investments. Plan participants are likely to start receiving new disclosures under the Labor Department requirements in the spring of 2012.

The Sample Glossary was developed by the Investment Company Institute and the SPARK Institute. It has been endorsed by the American Benefits Council, American Council of Life Insurers, American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries and the Society for Human Resource Management.

ICI and SPARK Institute are making the Sample Glossary available at no cost to recordkeepers, other plan service providers, and plan sponsors. The organizations may release revised versions of the glossary periodically. General inquiries and questions about the glossary should be submitted to larry@sparkinstitute.org and glossary@ici.org.