The SPARK Institute

The SPARK Institute (Society of Professional Asset Managers and Recordkeepers) is a nonprofit trade association in the United States that represents retirement-plan service providers. Founded in 1988, the group’s early members described it as “a place where competitors could cooperate on technology standards,” according to Pensions & Investments. The Institute now coordinates industry data formats and policy discussions among recordkeepers, investment firms, and financial institutions involved in 401(k) and similar plans.

History

The Institute was founded in the late 1980s by Robert G. Wuelfing to provide research and policy coordination for retirement-plan administrators. The acronym SPARK derives from the organization’s original full name, Society of Professional Asset Managers and Recordkeepers. In 2003, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times referenced SPARK's research in coverage of the mutual-fund and 401(k) industries, noting the group’s data on plan distribution and participant behavior.

Coverage from the late 2000s, including BenefitsPro, highlighted SPARK’s data in stories about record 401(k) balances. In January 2012, SPARK Institute member firms including Ascensus, BlackRock, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Prudential Financial, and Wells Fargo purchased SPARK and The SPARK Institute from Wuelfing and reorganized them into a single nonprofit governed by its members. Following the transaction, the new nonprofit structure formalized the Institute’s policy and standards role within the U.S. retirement-services industry.

Mission and activities

According to the organization’s website, the SPARK Institute provides a forum for developing shared technology standards, compliance guidance for defined-contribution plan providers, and unified positions on federal regulation of retirement savings programs. Working groups within the organization address:

• Data security and cybersecurity best practices for plan recordkeepers
• Standardization of data-exchange formats between recordkeepers and asset managers
• Regulatory advocacy before the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Leadership

Since 2015, the Institute has been led by Executive Director Tim Rouse. Previous directors have included Larry Goldbrum (2012–2014) and founder Robert G. Wuelfing (1998–2012).

Conferences and publications

The Institute hosts an annual SPARK National Conference in Washington, D.C., and The SPARK Forum in Palm Beach, Florida, hosted at The Breakers (hotel) (an invitation-only industry meeting), which attract plan providers, consultants, and policymakers. SPARK also publishes position papers and best-practice guidelines on cybersecurity and electronic plan administration.

Role in policy and regulation

In 2015, SPARK submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Labor regarding cybersecurity expectations for retirement plan recordkeepers.. Its policy initiatives and industry standards have been cited in trade publications such as PlanSponsor, InvestmentNews, and Pensions & Investments. In 2015, for example, SPARK’s cybersecurity working group published a checklist that several large recordkeepers later adopted in their vendor audits.

See also

• 401(k)
• 403(b)
• Retirement plans in the United States
• Defined contribution plan
• Pension

External links

• Official website
• SPARK Institute Newsroom

This article "The SPARK Institute" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:The SPARK Institute. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---