Investment Consulting Services to Defined Contribution Retirement Plans
Goal
To help plan sponsors of defined contribution plans properly manage their fiduciary risk while optimizing the savings benefits for their plan participants.
Fiduciary Background
In recent years, retirement plan fiduciaries are being called to a higher standard as:
- Class action lawsuits against ERISA plan sponsors are escalating,
- The U.S. Department of Labor’s has elevated its oversight of defined contribution plan expenses that are borne by participants (apparently in reaction to heightened Congressional interest), and
- State and federal authorities have launched multiple probes of the expenses that flow through to plan participants’ accounts from plan administration vendors, third party advisors and mutual fund companies.
In this context, individual fiduciaries can be personally liable for failure to properly discharge their responsibilities. (In the Enron Corporation litigation, the US Dept. of Labor made clear that failure to act might be the source of claims against fiduciaries, as much as improper actions.)
Our Role as a Co-Fiduciary Advisor to the Plan
As a co-fiduciary advisor, we dedicate our professionals and processes to advising and assisting fiduciaries with the design, documentation and ongoing management of their fiduciary oversight process, the intended result being that our clients will be unattractive defendants, in the event of any contemplated fiduciary litigation.
Services
Our professional consulting team designs client-focused evaluations, planning and programming that addresses the following areas of plan sponsor responsibilities:
- Review and analyze the plan’s design and effectiveness in supporting both the sponsor’s purposes and the long-term savings goals of the participants,
- Assist plan sponsors in complying with ERISA,
- Analyze and benchmark revenue and expense distribution within the plan. This may lead to our negotiations with the current service provider for reductions of plan and participant-borne expenses through revenue recapture concessions, or a search for a new service provider,
- Evaluate and benchmark the plan’s effectiveness in utilizing educational programs and investment options,
- Help improve investment performance and employee satisfaction with the investment options available in the plan, and
- Manage customized Target Date Funds based on the plan’s core mutual fund offerings.