New Principal Platform Helps SMB Expand Retirement Plan Access

Principal Financial Group has launched Principal Flex for retirement plans under $1 million, which consists of two streamlined retirement packages developed to help small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and tax-exempt organizations offer flexible retirement benefits to employees.

The 2 plan packages, Principal® Flex and Principal® Flex-Open feature advisor benefits, including:

– Easily arrive at ballpark baseline cost – with fewer inputs
– Choose investment options to fit their SMB client strategy
– Select the expense collection option that better helps clients budget for plan costs
– Evaluate plans quickly with transparent cost structure
– Compensation flexibility to help fit the needs of financial professionals

“Principal serves more than 37,000 SMB clients with nearly 1.3 million participants. We’ve generated a wealth of data-driven insights from these clients and talked with advisors – and that allows us to uniquely understand the challenges SMB owners face and how to provide them effective products.” – VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Retirement and Income Solutions, Kevin Morris.

Depending on the respective Principal Flex package selected, advisors can leverage several advantages for employer clients including offsetting administrative costs, tax saving strategies and paperwork reduction. Principal® Flex packages also offers participant services and additional customizable plan features typically enjoyed by larger organizations.

Growing Demand for Competitive Benefits Packages
With 69% of small U.S. businesses planning to hire in 2018, there’s a high demand for qualified workers. U.S. unemployment is hovering around four percent – a 17-year low – making the need for competitive benefit packages critical to the continued success and growth of small businesses.

To keep business running and growing, employers need to find and hire good talent. The longer this market stays strong, the tighter the employment market may get.

“The flip side to a great job market is that it puts extra pressure on recruiting and retention, so employer-sponsored retirement plans are moving from a want to a need,” said Morris. “Principal® Flex helps advisors build attractive plans for small business owners, tailored to their needs.”