WMS Retirement Plan Specialist

First Bank & Trust•Brookings, SD

About The Position

The WMS Retirement Plan Specialist provides professional new-business and existing-client support to the Retirement Plan Services division of the Wealth Management Services Department/Group. The role also provides administrative support to ERISA Relationship Managers and manages many relationship activities for smaller accounts. The specialist supports retirement plan account administration, sales activities, and relationship management; coordinates new client account openings and paperwork; assists with client meetings and reviews; and helps ensure required compliance notices and disclosures are tracked and completed. The position also supports plan-document retention, participant searches, employee-benefit forms, account statements, retirement-plan recordkeeping conversions, data entry, and Custodial IRA services and transaction processing. The role requires adherence to company policies, procedures, and compliance requirements, including participation in required compliance training. Compensation is listed as Hourly Grade 4.

Requirements

Associate’s degree plus four years of related work experience, or equivalent.
Excellent oral and written communication skills.
Attention to detail.
Ability to make decisions independently while balancing multiple priorities and meeting deadlines.
Knowledge of, or ability to learn, basic legal ERISA plan and IRA documents, mutual funds, tax concepts, compliance testing, and mandatory disclosures.

Nice To Haves

Experience with a bank, wealth management group, trust company, law firm, or brokerage firm is preferred.
Advanced knowledge of Excel and Word is preferred.

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain support for Retirement Plan Services account administration, sales activities, and relationship management, while managing most relationship activities for smaller accounts.
Support relationship managers by preparing correspondence to clients, attorneys, accountants, and beneficiaries about account activity handled by the department in its legal capacity.
Coordinate preparation and opening of new client accounts and related paperwork, and participate in client meetings as needed.
Gather information for client meetings and presentations.
Assist in preparing initial 60-day reviews and annual administrative and investment reviews for relationship managers.
Read plan agreements.
Help relationship managers track and complete annual compliance notices, including Safe Harbor, QDIA, and Auto-Enrollment notices, DOL 408(b)(2) Plan Sponsor disclosure statements, and annual 404(a)(5) Participant disclosure statements.
Track and permanently retain plan-document restatements, amendments, summaries of material modifications, new agreements, and notifications required by the IRS, DOL, or plan sponsor elections for new and existing qualified plans.
Search databases for lost participants and take action to locate employees for reporting of non-responsive plan distributions, tax forms, and final statements.
Provide Synergy/imaging support for employee-benefit enrollment, investment, beneficiary, and distribution forms.
Prepare customer account statements for officer review and mailing.
Support the Retirement Plan Services Recordkeeping Division with large-plan conversions and de-conversions, including verification, organization, and retention of conversion data.
Assist with data entry for uploads across platforms as needed.
Meet with bank customers in support of Custodial IRA Services.
Prepare and process custodial IRAs and disclosures using the Jack Henry Streamline application, including new accounts, contributions, and distributions.
Act as a dual member in posting and reconciling IRA transactions across all FB&T locations; verify posting accuracy and resolve discrepancies.
Assist in all areas of WMS as assigned by the SVP.
Follow FBT policies and procedures in the employee handbook.
Adhere to compliance procedures and participate in required compliance training.