As the employee benefits industry evolves, the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist^® (CEBS^®) designation’s curriculum is updated to reflect this reality. The U.S. RPA 2 course is being fully revised to meet the changing retirement plans landscape. This new CEBS course will help you gain valuable skills that you can put into practice on the job today as well as provide the emergent, cutting-edge knowledge that will prepare you for future roles.

RPA 2 imparts the essential elements of portfolio theory and asset allocation when overseeing or delegating responsibilities for retirement plan investment management. The course explores the necessity for mitigating risk through diversification when pursuing superior asset returns. Topics include investment theories and the necessity for plan sponsors to formulate workable investment policy statements based on these sound investing principles. A study of the historical returns and risk dispersions of various asset classes over various time frames provides a context from which to develop portfolio policies and investment strategies. Also covered are the topics of whether active or passive investment strategies should be pursued as well as how insights from behavioral finance can enhance plan design and participant decision-making. The course further delves into the use of investment managers and other service providers and how a fiduciary monitors the ongoing performance of these plan intermediaries. Varied investment products such as index funds, target-date funds (TDFs) and exchange traded funds (ETFs) are explained and evaluated. The course incorporates both currently applicable law and future, to-be-phased-in requirements from the SECURE 2.0 Act.

Study Materials for RPA 2, including a new Study Guide and textbook, will be available for purchase in late 2024. You’ll be able to take an exam for the new course beginning in the first Testing Window of 2025. Online Study Groups With Instructor Support for the new courses will be offered for the first time during the summer 2025 session.

Below is an outline of the new U.S. course:

RPA 2—Directing Retirement Plans Part 2

Module 1: Retirement Plan Investing

Module 2: Balancing Risk and Return

Module 3: Portfolio Theory

Module 4: Portfolio Selection and Asset Allocation

Benefits in Action #1: Evaluating an Investment Manager’s Performance

Module 5: Investment Managers and Plan Intermediaries

Module 6: Active and Passive Investment Strategies

Module 7: Insights From Behavioral Finance

Benefits in Action #2: Tweaking the 401(k) Plan With Behavioral Finance Concepts

Module 8: Hybrid Retirement Plan Approaches

Benefits in Action #3: Help Me Understand My Hybrid Plan

Module 9: Plan Sponsor Administrative Responsibilities

Benefits in Action #4: Prepping for a DOL Audit

Module 10: Participant Services

Module 11: Fiduciary Oversight and Plan Governance

Module 12: Integrated Case Study: Assessing Fiduciary Concerns Under Threat of Litigation

Questions?

If you have any questions about Study Materials or the new U.S. RPA 2 course, please reach out to our CEBS Customer Service team at cebs@ifebp.org.