Our services provide complete guidance to three different groups within your plan – each of whom has their own needs: the Plan Sponsor and their employees who are responsible for the daily operations of the plan, the Plan Fiduciaries who are responsible for oversight and decision making, and the Plan Participants who ultimately receive the benefit. All three of these groups profit by having us help them understand the complex nature of retirement plans, assist them in carrying out their duties, and guard them against the entrapments of the industry.
ERISA
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
Frankly speaking, there are two very significant threats to Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries regarding their retirement plans: Potential actions by the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service and lawsuits from, or on behalf of, participants. The rules and regulations can be overwhelming - even for the most experienced manager.
Pension Consultants understands the difficulties in understanding and applying the myriad of rules, especially when they are constantly changing. That is why we take a different approach: We add structure and expertise to your plan. Our ERISA Services team continually reviews all pertinent rules and regulations, and automatically creates and delivers educational presentations to your plan committee. You don’t have to remember to ask us about it. It is an ongoing part of our service.* You see, we provide you with structure and expertise. In fact, our clients' employees and fiduciaries are continually educated on a variety of important ERISA topics as a part of their regular committee meetings.*
Education is only half of the ERISA equation. It is just as important to check the operations of the plan to ensure compliance with rules and regulations. That is why our ERISA team also conducts a compliance exam (called the QP ReviewSM) each year.* Again, you don’t have to remember to ask us. It is part of our ongoing service.*
*Offered as a part of the CORE COMPETE Service Agreement. Frequency and extent of service is based upon Service Agreement.
INVESTMENT
Just like our ERISA Services, we provide the structure and expertise for your plan’s investments. And you can have full confidence in our Investment Services team because we agree in writing to become a co-fiduciary for the investment advice we provide.*
There are two main responsibilities your plan’s fiduciaries face regarding the investment options offered to your participants: Searching for new investments and monitoring the existing investments. To be performed correctly, both require tremendous knowledge and discipline. Our Investment Services team has unusually, well qualified individuals. Additionally, through our lengthy experience in working with plan investments, we have developed a rigorous, academic approach to investment research.
Our Investment Services team goes way beyond the typical broker or financial planner in education and structure. First, our team members have a minimum of a college degree in finance or related field and hold appropriate NASD securities licenses. Furthermore, our team members must have, or be working towards, an MBA, Certified Financial Planner designation, or Chartered Financial Analyst designation. This higher level of education leads our team to a distinctive, academic approach to research.
As far as structure, we perform continual, rigorous research that is designed to guide your fiduciaries through each step of the investment process. We have extensive search processes that culminate with our co-fiduciary recommendation.* Our monitoring process is equally as deliberate and we also provide a co-fiduciary recommendation* for any investment that reaches probationary status.**
And once again, you don’t have to worry about keeping up with these processes. We will guide you through each step of the way and notify you when a decision is needed.*
*Offered as a part of the CORE COMPLETE and Investment COMPLETE Service Agreements. Read the Service Agreement and Form ADV Part II for full details.
**Frequency and extent of service is based upon Service Agreement.
PARTICIPANT
All the rules and regulations; the research and decisions, ultimately serve a purpose – to benefit the participants.
Informing the participants about their plan, its terms, conditions, and options become a vital part, therefore, of the overall success of the plan. But even here, various rules and regulations can complicate what seems to be a straightforward process.
The first thing that plan sponsor employees and fiduciaries must understand is that there is a difference between providing participants with education and advice. Having brokers or financial planners, who lack a complete understanding of ERISA, give the participant presentations can unintentionally create liabilities for the fiduciaries. At Pension Consultants, we understand the difference and their consequences on the plan fiduciaries.
Whichever way you choose – or if you choose both education and advice – we can accomplish it. In fact, we provide in-person, participant presentations to tens of thousands of employees each year. During our on-site educational meetings, we speak directly to your employees; teaching practical concepts that can be built upon year after year. And through our RetireAdvisersSM program, we can offer personal investment advice to your participants that are fully compliant with the provisions of the Pension Protection Act.
At Pension Consultants, we have the experience and expertise to know exactly how a participant communications program should be conducted. A way that is both effective and compliant with the rules and regulations.
You see, we understand why so much effort is put into managing a retirement plan. It is to enable participants to retire more comfortably and securely.
VENDOR
As part of our commitment to provide complete retirement plan supervision and guidance, we offer services to help you search for and monitor vendors. Our innovation, experience and proprietary research sets the quality of our Vendor Services above any in the industry today.
Vendor searches and monitoring are very complicated and almost impossible for a plan’s fiduciaries to perform adequately on their own. The lack of common industry standards combined with the industry’s nasty habit of hiding expenses and revenue sources make this a risky endeavor. And your plan’s fiduciaries have an obligation to understand the services provided, their benefit, and their costs. With so much attention being given to plan fees these days, it is no wonder our Vendor Services are in high demand.
Our exhaustive approach removes emotion and sales diversions. Our Vendor Services team will guide your plan’s fiduciaries through every conceivable service option and help them understand the choices that are to be made. Without such a guiding force, your search process would be left to chance and salesmanship – leaving the fiduciaries and participants to discover a vendor’s weaknesses and true costs after the fact.