Retirement Plan Veteran Forms Atlanta Based Southeastern Fiduciary Services
ATLANTA, GA, September 28, 2010 -- Bert M. Carmody, a veteran of the retirement plans industry announced the formation of Southeastern Fiduciary Services, LLC (SFS). Creating this company is in response to the increasing fiduciary demands on Retirement Plan Sponsors:
- New fee disclosure regulations and retirement plan reporting (5500 reports) require more monitoring, oversight and governance by plan fiduciaries.
- Recent court cases reinforce the need for plan fiduciaries to give more oversight and attention to providers in areas of fees and compensation, proper investment selection and quality and performance of received services.
- Plan fiduciaries face more potential for litigation by an increasingly wary participant base, a continuing stream of bad financial news and better marketing and promotion by plaintiffs' law firms. It only takes one to initiate a law suit and plan fiduciaries are immediately on the defensive regardless of whether or not they are at fault. It's too late then to implement sound governance practices.
- Small companies (publically traded or privately owned) do not have the fiduciary supporting resources that big companies have. So often these important duties and obligations are either given short shrift or plan sponsor fiduciaries "wing it" on their own.
- Issues with health care take away the employers' attention towards their retirement plan. Heath care is "here and now" but retirement plan issues, left unattended can fester into big, expensive fixes.
SFS was created to solve these needs and provides the following services:
1. Perform a diagnostic review of a plan sponsor fiduciary duties, governance and procedures to identify gaps and risk areas. The client plan will receive a custom tailored report and action plan to address and solve these areas.
2. SFS will serve as an ERISA 3(21) fiduciary and have a legal stake in the fiduciary governance of the retirement plan. ERISA 3(21) spells out the legal obligations and requirements for a fiduciary over a plan. SFS will accept general or more specific assignment including:
- Plan Trustee
- Plan Committee Fiduciary
- Company Stock Fiduciary
- Transaction Fiduciary
- Employer Bankrupt Fiduciary (run plan when employer has gone out of business)
- Service Provider Searches
- Conversion of Records and Implementation Assistance
Mr. Carmody commented: "Small companies (plan assets less than $250 million) assume they will hear about problems or issues from their investment consultants or other providers. However, providers and consultants interests are quite different from those of the company's. For plan fiduciaries unfortunately, providers' primary focus is on product sales, not on helping plan fiduciaries maintain/improve their retirement plan compliance. In many situations, providers lack the knowledge, commitment, are conflicted or walk away when fiduciary issues arise. This leaves plan fiduciaries on their own to get unbiased advice and direction. That is why SFS, an independent fiduciary services company exists - to give plan fiduciaries the help they need."
About Southeastern Fiduciary Services
Southeastern Fiduciary Services, LLC (SFS) is an independent fiduciary services company providing fiduciary consulting assistance to retirement plan sponsors or serves as a plan fiduciary in specialized situations or in more encompassing roles. While SFS can serve plans of all sizes, the need is greatest for the smaller (less than $250 million) sized plans whose sponsors lack the contacts, resources or know how to navigate through fiduciary issues. This includes 401k, profit sharing, ESOP, money purchase pension, defined benefit pension, cash balance and target benefit plans. SFS is totally independent, sells no products and does not align itself with any service provider.
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