Marcia Wagner: Adopting Best Practices

Marcia Wagner is the founder of The Wagner Law Group, one of the nation’s largest and most highly regarded law firms specializing in ERISA, employee benefits, and executive compensation, and has practiced employee benefits law for over 38 years. Ms. Wagner is an authority on qualified and non-qualified plans, fiduciary issues, deferred compensation, and welfare benefit arrangements, with experience in plan design and drafting, compliance, tax planning, and consultation on all aspects of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. Ms. Wagner also serves as an expert witness in ERISA litigation. Ms. Wagner has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors for the American Benefits Council, as well as a Member to the Board of Governors of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. Ms. Wagner has written hundreds of articles and 27 books. She is a highly sought after lecturer, is widely quoted in financial journals and has been a guest on Fox, CNN, Bloomberg, and NBC.

In this episode, Eric and Marcia Wagner discuss:

• Committing to continually enhancing services
• Best practices that benefit professionals must follow
• Adopting investment policy statements and other governance documents
• Doing things with integrity and excellence

Key Takeaways:

• Providers must continually enhance services to meet evolving industry standards, legal requirements, and client expectations. 
• Benefit professionals should follow best practices, such as documenting processes, monitoring fees, evaluating service providers through RFPs and benchmarking, and thoroughly documenting meeting minutes to demonstrate prudent fiduciary processes.
• Investment policy statements, although not legally mandated, are considered fiduciary best practices for retirement plans and should be treated as plan documents if adopted.
• Believe in the industry's support for the middle class and social stability, maintaining humanity, generosity, flexibility, enthusiasm, pursuing excellence and integrity, and embracing the notion that everything will work out in the end.

“Remember your humanity, and don't let the bast