COLLECTED WISDOM™ on Choosing and Monitoring Plan Providers
Need help and insight on choosing or monitoring your 401k plan vendors? This resource will give you all the informatin you need.
Sample Certification of Reasonableness of Plan Services - Summary: This is a sample certification that illustrates the type of documentation that plan sponsors need to establish compliance with 408(b)(2) requirements.
Source: Dalbar
, December 2011.
Making a "Perfect Match" Takes a Great RFP - Summary: A well-done request for proposal (RFP) is called for whether fiduciaries of an employee benefit plan are looking for a new service provider or taking a fresh look at what services are available.
Source: International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists , November 2011.
Pension Vendors Must Be Prudently Selected and Monitored - Summary: Organizations that sponsor pension plans are generally responsible for ensuring that their plans comply with federal law -- including ERISA. Many sponsors rely on other professionals to advise and assist them with their employee benefit plan duties. For this reason, selecting competent service providers is one of the most important responsibilities of a plan sponsor. In fact, hiring a service provider is a regulated fiduciary function.
Source: Roland|Criss, August 2011.
Picking the Best Provider - Summary: A bad provider selection can ruin even the best-designed plan. Plan sponsors who want to build a better 401k plan can, however, build on the success and ideas fostered by a great provider relationship-and that is why your choice of a recordkeeping provider may well be the most critical you will make as a plan fiduciary.
Source: Plansponsor.com, June 2011.
Selecting and Monitoring an Investment Advisor for Your Company's Retirement Plan - Summary: Since investment advisors play a central role in the qualified plan marketplace, the SEC and the DOL jointly issued a guidance paper titled, "Selecting and Monitoring Pension Plan Consultants, Tips for Plan Fiduciaries." This paper is intended to supplement and reinforce the advice provided in the SEC/DOL Guidance paper.
Source: Reliance Trust Company , February 2011.
Largest 401k Plan Administration Firms - Summary: This chart ranks 401k plan administration firms by number of plan participants receiving services.
Source: Businessinsurance.com, July 2010.
Tips for Documenting the Selection and Monitoring of Your Advisers - Summary: In selecting service providers, the responsible plan fiduciary must engage in an objective process designed to elicit information necessary to assess the qualifications of the service provider, the quality of the work product, and the reasonableness of the fees charged in light of the services provided. In addition, this process should be designed to avoid self-dealing, conflicts of interest or other improper influence.
Source: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, July 2010.
Required Disclosures in Service Agreements - Summary: Anticipates that the DOL will continue to use its enforcement authority to require written agreements with advance disclosures regardless of what the regulations may – or may not – require.
Source: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP PC, January 2010.
The Plan Sponsor's Ability to Evaluate Conflicts of Interest - Summary: When making decisions about their retirement plans, plan sponsors have a duty to understand and evaluate conflicts of interest that could impact the plan. In some cases, plan sponsors are prohibited from entering into transactions that involve conflicts of interest. Those conflicts fall into two broad categories discussed here.
Source: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP PC, December 2009.
New World RFPs - Summary: Many plan sponsors use the RFP (request for proposal) process to select plan providers and, particularly, recordkeepers. Generally speaking, the RFP process is the most effective method for determining the proper pricing for the particular plan, as well as the services and features that are available from the provider. However, the author explains why almost all RFPs are fundamentally flawed.
Source: Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP PC, December 2009.
Choosing a Service Provider - Summary: Issues for fiduciaries when hiring a service provider -- checklists and questions to ask.
Source: Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (free registration required), January 2008.
Effective Monitoring of Outsourced Plan Recordkeeping and Reporting Functions - Summary: This article assist a plan sponsor, administrator, or trustee in understanding the importance and benefits of establishing an effective monitoring program over third-party service providers that perform recordkeeping and reporting functions for your employee benefit plan.
Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants , June 2007.
Finding "Best Fit" in a Retirement Plan Provider Through the RFP Process - Summary: Much has been written about what plan sponsors should include in a Request for Proposal (RFP) when they embark upon a search to hire or replace a retirement plan provider. But written proposals submitted in response to an RFP will never capture all of the essential elements that plan sponsors should assess in selecting a provider. It is therefore vital that plan sponsors recognize the potentially significant limitations of relying too heavily upon the RFP as a decision tool.
Source: 401khelpcenter.com, April 2006.
Selecting and Monitoring Investment Professionals - Summary: This article addresses salient legal issues confronting plan fiduciaries today in connection with the investment of employee benefit plan assets.
Source: Benefits & Compensation Digest , May 2005.
Putting It All Together: Vendors Selection - Summary: You're finally ready to choose a service provider. But whether you're going to start up a new retirement plan or change one or all of the vendors currently servicing your plan, you'll need more than just information to do it right. This article brings the vendor-selection process together in a logical, cohesive whole.
Located on: Blue Prairie Group June 2004.
Tips for Selecting and Monitoring Service Providers for Your Employee Benefit Plan - Summary: The process of selecting service providers will vary depending on the plan and services to be provided. To assist business owners in carrying out their responsibilities under ERISA to prudently select and monitor plan service providers, the Employee Benefits Security Administration has prepared the following tips which may be a helpful starting point.
Located on: U. S. Department of Labor, May 2004.
Changing 401k Plan Vendors? - Summary: There is no such thing as too many questions. Recently Ed Moss, Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits at FirstMerit Corporation (www.firstmerit.com) provided some tips for plan sponsors who are considering changing 401k plan vendors.
Located on: 401khelpcenter.com.
Creating a Request For Proposal - Summary: Here is an outline to follow in putting together a RFP when you are looking for a bundled 401k provider. Included in this outline are important questions you should be asking.
Located on: 401khelpcenter.com.
Managing the 401k Vendor Selection Process - Summary: When selecting 401k plan vendors, many companies fall into "the sales claim trap" and make inappropriate selections, leading to frequent vendor turnover. The article outlines the primary service approaches available in the market, and the pros and cons of each approach. Also addressed are techniques for matching investment options to the unique characteristics of your company's workforce. Finally, the article describes how to develop and manage a structured Request for Proposal (RFP) process to be used to select new 401k vendors.
Located on: Schultz Collins.
Vendor Reviews - Summary: Reaping Rewards: The benefits of conducting regular reviews of defined contribution plan design and service-provider performance, a discussion and review.
Located on: Segal.com.
401khelpcenter.com, LLC is not the author of the material referenced in this digest unless specifically noted. The material referenced was created, published, maintained, or otherwise posted by institutions or organizations independent of 401khelpcenter.com, LLC. 401khelpcenter.com, LLC does not endorse, approve, certify, or control this material and does not guarantee or assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, or timeliness of the material. Use of any information obtained from this material is voluntary, and reliance on it should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and timeliness. Reference to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by 401khelpcenter.com, LLC.
