PlanPerfect Using BrightScope Data To Benchmark Plans
NEW YORK, NY, June 1, 2010 -- Sheree Tallerman knows if your retirement plan is making the grade or flunking, compared with other, similar plans in your market. And she hasn't even met you. Not yet, anyway.
Tallerman is the President of PlanPerfect, Inc., a corporate retirement plan consulting firm in New York City that services 401k, profit sharing, and defined benefit pension plans for small to medium size companies. Having worked in the business for over 20 years, Tallerman recently began a strategic relationship with BrightScope, a company that quantitatively rates individual 401k plans against a unique peer group. To come up with the rating, algorithms calculate such factors as average age of participant, vesting schedule, company match, investment diversity and fee structure. BrightScope obtains some of its data from public sources such as the Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Armed with BrightScope's intelligence, Tallerman is able to evaluate how your company's plan stacks up against similar plans in the marketplace, both from an overall design standpoint as well as investment structure. She is then able to suggest changes to enhance the plan's efficiency and maximize return on investments.
For instance, she knows that Whitney and Co., a private equity firm in New Canaan, Connecticut with 102 participants in its retirement plan, ranks above its peers for the quality of its investment menu. And she knows that Norwalk Health Care, in Norwalk, has a relatively high total plan cost with only an average investment menu.
"What's so exciting is that PlanPerfect's mission is truly aligned with BrightScope's mission" Tallerman says. "Full disclosure, fee transparency, and more cost-effective plans."
She asserts that PlanPerfect has no affiliations with any investment management or mutual fund company, which, she says, allows her to make recommendations that are objective, transparent, and solely in the interests of the plan sponsor.
"The strength of a fully open and transparent platform is that you can design it to meet the client's needs, not the needs of any product or vendor. BrightScope's information perfectly supports our business model, since it allows us to see exactly where those needs are in any retirement plan."
According to BrightScope's data, the average total 401k plan cost can be as low as 0.20% for the largest plans, and as high as 5% for smaller plans.
"I've seen plan expenses as high as 221 basis points, and in some cases we've been able to reduce that by 50%," Tallerman says.
"Sheree is committed to helping companies make their plans more cost-effective, and more advantageous for the employees," says Mike Alfred, co-founder and CEO of BrightScope. "Our analytics will give her a tremendous edge in accomplishing that."
PlanPerfect is one of the only third party administration firms in the country using BrightScope's data to benchmark plans. Tallerman recently rated the top 10 and bottom 10 retirement plans among firms in Connecticut, Westchester County, and New Jersey. Curious to know how your plan stands? Tallerman is ready and willing to tell you, free of charge-and she promises not to hold anything back.
She can be reached through the PlanPerfect website: www.planperfectretirement.com, or call 917-828-5888.
About PlanPerfect
PlanPerfect is a corporate retirement plan consulting firm that provides design, administration, recordkeeping, and investment management services for 401k, profit sharing, defined benefit pension, and cash balance plans. More info at: www.planperfectretirement.com.
###
Click here for more material dealing with current trends, opinion, news, legislative action, investments, marketing, sales, consulting, and legal issues on 401k plans.
This is a press release provided by the company or its representatives. 401khelpcenter.com, LLC is not the author of this release and is not associated or affiliated with any firm or organization mentioned unless otherwise noted. Use of any information obtained from this release 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.
