Services & Support

A successful plan starts with the right design.  We help you:

• Define who you most want to benefit and why (owners, key staff, broad workforce).
• Set Realistic participation and contribution goals for the business and employees.
• Understand how your demographics affect testing, costs and outcomes.
• Compare options across 401(k), 403(b), 457, ESOP, cash balance and tradtional defined benefits.
• Help you decide what level of employer contributions  makes sense for now and in the future. 

Engagement range from one-time plan design or setup to targeted projects such as redeisgns, 410(b) carve-outs, cost analyses, allocation changes, vendor negotiations, and plan terminations.  

We serve as a 3(21) or 3(38) investment Fiduciary, giving you structure and documentation around investment decisions.  This includes:

• Drafting and maintaining an Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
• Selecting and monitoring mutual funds, ETFs, and CITs using clear criteria such as cost, performance relative to peers, manager tenure and style consistency.
• Placing underperforming funds on a "Watch List" and recommending replacements or additions. 

For defined benefit and cash balance plans, we design portfolios that balance the need to align assets and liabilities with the desire to avoid volatile contribution requirements.  

Your employees get age-appropriate, jargon-free education that helps them make better decisions and reduces time spent on plan questions.  We Focus on:

• Risk and time horizon in plain language.
• Sensible use of index and active strategies where each makes sense.
• One-on-one and group meetings, onsite or virtual, throughout the year.  
• By not handling personal investments, we can provide your participants with unbiased advice. Our "No Conflict of Interest" policy means we receive "No Renumeration" from any investment option,  record keeper, third party administrator, or referral source. 

We don't disappear after implementation.  Ongoing support  includes: 

• Annual ERISA Trustee Reviews which cover: plan design, regulatory changes, investment analysis based on an Investment Policy Statement (IPS), vendor review for service/pricing/participant ease-of-use, and a discussion of issues that have been encountered through the plan year. 
• Support with new regulations, testing issues and audit questions.
• Coordination of vendor changes, from RFP through transition and enrollment.
• Day-to-day troubleshooting for HR and participants on loans, distributions, web access and statements.