I have railed against the use of TPA to describe what we do since time immemorial. I have lost that argument, but I still don't refer to ourselves as a TPA and I correct anyone who uses that term with us. We use the phrase "retirement plan service provider" or just plain "service provider". Because, I ain't a THIRD PARTY anything! We're a FIRST PARTY with our clients. I ask clients if they would refer to their atty or acct as a "third party atty or acct". Same thing with us. We represent the client directly, not as a third party. The phrase TPA came from the health insurance industry where there really is a "party of the third part" which is different than the party of the first part (the client) and the party of the second part (the insurance company) who then go out and hire a true THIRD PARTY to do some work on their behalf. What a mistake our industry has made and continues to make.