Insurer Adds Form 5500 Aids

Principal Financial Group Inc. has come out with new tools to help benefit plan sponsors and their advisors handle new Form 5500 and retirement plan financial statement reporting rules.

The U.S. Department of Labor now is requiring plans to report more information about vendor fees and expenses in their Form 5500 annual reports, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Norwalk, Conn., is requiring more disclosure about the fair value measurements being used in valuing the plans assets or investments.

Principal, Des Moines, Iowa, has developed a paper explaining the new rules, a Form 5500 Quick Reference Guide, a review of Value and Reporting of Retirement Plan Assets–FAS Number 157, and a fiduciary handbook.