Associated Pension Consultants

Review: Lack of cooperation and availability for distribution of 401K plan administered by said company. Failed to advise of distribution criteria; holding funds in plan for over a year past employment termination; no clear explanation of plan of execution for distribution or empathy toward employee owning said plan. Inaccessibility of funds in plan causing personal hardship.Desired Settlement: Would like to have some cooperation and coordination of employee owned asset distribution, or at least a set plan for same. Prior explanation of how plan worked would have been helpful. Not certain company is operating in a legal manner.

Business

Response:

In response to your letter regarding the complaint referenced above, please note Associated Pension Consultants is not the plan sponsor of the plan referenced in [redacted] and [redacted]'s complaint.

We are, however, the Third Party Administrators of the plan retained by the plan sponsor. We provide IRS and Department of Labor guidance to the Plan Sponsor based on the guidelines adopted in the plan document.

The Summary Plan Description, provided to participants, gives specific details regarding distributions.

We were contacted by [redacted] on 1/17/14 and subsequently assisted the plan sponsor on 1/27/14 by preparing a distribution package for [redacted].

There is no basis for [redacted] and [redacted] to file a complaint against Associated Pension Consultants.

Review: I left my former employer and have had to deal with APC in Chico to distribute my 401K funds. My complaint is that I havent received my money, lack of APC follow through, the unprofessionalism manner in which they address customer emails and phone calls. I started the distribution process on July 9th and still have not received my money from APC. July 9-initial email to start distributionJuly 10-my employer verified with APC to start distribution formsJuly 13-I emailed APC bc I had not received acknowledgement of receiptJuly 13-APC confirmed they could start the paperwork, and that they had received my employer's verification on July 10th.July 16-I emailed APC to check on status of when I would get forms sent to me/response from APC "in process"July 20-I emailed two employees again for status update. No response from either employee.I did finally receive paperwork but after the date they had promised. I sent it back same day.Aug 10-I email APC to say I still havent received distribution.Aug 10-I was told by APC that my boss was mailed my forms to sign on July 23, but when they emailed her on Aug 10th to confirm receipt, she could not confirm that she received them. I was told to start the process again. I had changed my address and had originally wanted to use a portion of the money to close on a house. Because my distribution was so delayed by APC I could not do this. I told them I wanted the entire amount rolled over.Aug18-My 2nd distribution form was sent to APC. Fax confirmation.Aug 23-Email from APC saying they dont have the form and to resend.Aug 28-I call APC chico offce to ask for new contact person to fax my paerwork to and was spoke to in a very unprofessional manner by two employees. No responsibility or apology for any of the above. BBC complaint issued. Account also lost $4000 due to their delay and stock market issues. This would not have happend if APC had acted in a timely manner or had follow through. When I called today APC [redacted]) told me there had been no delay?Desired Settlement: I want my money.I want an explanation from Sr management as to why this was allowed to happen and what they are doing to correct the issues.[redacted], at the Chico office, could not cofirm that my employer ever received my distibution forms to sign. She told me it is not APC's responsiblity to ensure that it was delivered to the correct person. Distribution paperwork has financial and personal information of clients' that should be protected by APC. Delivery confirmation is suggested going forward.

Business

Response:

To whomever is handling this complaint, This letter is in response to your letter dated august 31, 2015 regarding the complaint against Pension Consultants (APC) submitted by [redacted] APC is a third party administration firm with over 40 very reputable years in the retirement plan industry. We are not a fiduciary to the plan and must act with the direction of the employer. We do not control or have access to the participant funds. The funds are held at [redacted] and distribution/election forms must be approved by the employer. It is our understanding the distribution paperwork we provided sat on the desk of the employer for over two weeks. The entire package needed to be prepared again and resigned when the participant changed her mind as to the form of payout. There was a subsequent delay when the participant’s election fax was not received by APC and an additional fax had to be requested. APC informed [redacted] that it takes 5-7 days to prepare distribution paperwork to submit to the employer and then expressly states in the distribution paperwork to “allow up to four weeks from the time [redacted] receives your properly completed form, for your distribution to be completed”. There are often many unfortunate varied reasons for delays, and these are often beyond our control. APC strives to handle situations with professionalism and promptness, even in the face of stress and delays such as what [redacted] experienced. We will continue to find ways to communicate as effectively as we can, and to process distributions as quickly and accurately as we can. Unfortunately, delays such as the ones described above do happen, and in this case, APC does not accept the responsibility of those delays. Sincerely, [redacted]