We act as co-fiduciary as an investment adviser with the Plan Sponsor or investment committee such as a benefits or investment committee. We will provide ongoing fiduciary compliance services and conduct periodic meetings with the Plan Sponsor or investment committee to provide fiduciary advice.
We review, evaluate, and if necessary, create or revise the investment policy statement for adoption by the Plan Sponsor or investment committee.
We recommend model portfolios consistent with your Plan’s investment policy statement, determine whether a portfolio’s asset allocation has deviated from its model, and recommend, as needed, how the Plan Sponsor or investment committee should reallocate those investments to rebalance the allocation.
We review the current investment alternatives under the Plan for consistency with the Plan’s investment policy statement and recommend changes, if necessary, to current investment alternatives available under the Plan. We will also recommend removing underperforming investment alternatives and conduct searches for additional investment alternatives as needed. We will further analyze the performance of the investment alternatives regularly, and provide the Plan Sponsor or investment committee with reports comparing the investment performance of the investment alternatives against the appropriate benchmarks.
We conduct vendor searches and benchmarking; Initial and ongoing needs analysis; Request for Proposal (RFP) completion; analysis of recordkeeping, administration, technology services, plan compliance, employee communications, and investment management services offered by each vendor; cost analysis; fee negotiation; and conversion assistance.
From design through implementation – We meet with plan participants, regularly or as requested by the Plan Sponsor, to present information on topics such as the overall benefits of plan participation, the impact of pre-retirement withdrawals on retirement income, investment objectives and philosophies, and risk/return characteristics. We can also provide written general financial information related to investment concepts such as diversification, dollar-cost averaging, estimating future retirement income needs, and assessing risk tolerance. We can furnish investment worksheets and questionnaires, which allow participants to estimate future income needs and assess different asset allocation models.
Participant investment advice program design and implementation – We can determine the plan participant’s investment return objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, and other preferences. We can recommend an asset allocation model based on the investment alternatives available under the Plan that is consistent with the participant’s investment return objectives, risk tolerance, time horizon, and other preferences. We may also advice the plan participant to periodically rebalance his or her asset allocation mix to maintain consistency with the asset allocation model and meet with them regulary, or as requested, to review the appropriateness of the asset allocation model in light of changes in the plan participant’s financial situation.