Robert L. Johnson Applauds Senators for Urging Labor Secretary to Increase Retirement Savings Opportunities for Minority, Working Class Americans

By Jason Owen 3 min read

BETHESDA, Md., July 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Robert L. Johnson, Chairman of The RLJ Companies and majority owner of Retirement Clearinghouse fully supports Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) for his leadership to reduce retirement plan cash out leakage when an employee changes jobs allowing their current retirement savings to follow them to their next employer.

In the July 18, 2017, letter from Senator Scott and 10 Republican Senators, they call upon Secretary Acosta to issue an Advisory Opinion regarding the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to auto portability. The letter states that retirement plan cash leakage at the time of a job change is harmful to workers’ retirement savings and, unfortunately, these harmful outcomes are disproportionately borne by minorities and low wage workers … with an estimated 14 million workers with 401(k) plans changing jobs each year, reducing leakage and consolidating low-dollar accounts through greater use of auto portability will set millions of working Americans on a better path to a secure retirement. They went on to say … we are concerned that the continued delay of the Department’s Advisory Opinion is a hurdle to the implementation of a workable, market-based solution that will help our constituents prepare for their retirement. (See attached July 18, 2017letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta).

“As a businessman committed to finding business solutions to social problems and an employer of minority workers, I know first-hand the importance of retirement savings to close the wealth gap. I am calling upon Secretary Acosta to demonstrate President Trump’s commitment to improving the economic status of minority Americans by issuing an Advisory Opinion on auto portability. By doing so, the Secretary will demonstrate to African Americans, as I urged the President to do so last Fall what African Americans stand to gain from a Trump Administration. Over the coming generation Auto portability will preserve more than $480 billion in savings for low wage working Americans and more than $698 billion in savings for all minority workers,” stated Johnson.

Senator Scott’s letter garnered support from a wide range of trade organizations focused on retirement well as the American Retirement Association, American Benefits Council, Financial Services Roundtable, Investment Company Institute, Insured Retirement Institute, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), Mana (a National Latina Organization), and the Society of Professional Asset Managers & Recordkeepers (SPARK). Auto portability has been previously supported by a bi-partisan group of both Houses of Congress (See attached November 19, 2015 letter to U. S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez).

About The RLJ Companies – The RLJ Companies, founded by Robert L. Johnson, is an innovative business network that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies. Within The RLJ Companies portfolio, Johnson owns or holds interests in businesses operating in a publicly traded hotel real estate investment trust; private equity; financial services; asset management; automobile dealerships; entertainment; and video lottery terminal (VLT) gaming. The RLJ Companies is headquartered in Bethesda, MD. Prior to founding The RLJ Companies, Johnson was founder and chairman of Black Entertainment Television (BET).
For more information visit: www. RLJcompanies.com

About Retirement Clearinghouse – Retirement Clearinghouse, LLC is the leading provider of portability and consolidation services for defined contribution plans, acting as a trusted, unbiased intermediary between plan sponsors, participants, record-keepers and other parties. Retirement Clearinghouse’s integrated financial technology, data and information solutions facilitate automated consolidation of small, redundant accounts for sponsors to improve plan performance metrics, and enable participants, regardless of account balance, to seamlessly transport their retirement savings through every phase of their careers. Retirement Clearinghouse’s portability solutions have been proven to cut cash-outs by over 50% and significantly increase average account balances. The firm’s portability solutions include a domestic call center providing specialized assistance designed to enable end-to-end portability and account consolidation; uncashed check services; and the capability to search for lost and missing participants. Originally established as RolloverSystems in 2001, Charlotte, N.C.-based Retirement Clearinghouse works with more than 17,100 retirement plans and has helped guide over 1 million plan participants with more than $14.4 billion in retirement savings. Retirement Clearinghouse is a portfolio company of The RLJ Companies, founded by Robert L. Johnson.

For more information, please visit www.rch1.com.