Why Hire A Retirement Consultant
Why Hire an Independent
Retirement Plan Fiduciary?
Employers/Plan Fiduciaries must act as prudent experts under ERISA, and are therefore held to a high standard of care with respect to plan-related decisions regarding investments, service providers, plan administration, and general ERISA compliance issues. Most prudent plan sponsors hire a plan fiduciary consultant (advisor) to assist them in adhering to ERISA’s rigorous standards, and to meet their objective of offering a best practices retirement plan to their employees.
Attributes of a Good Retirement Plan Fiduciary | Why You Should Hire One |
---|---|
Independence | Ability to help evaluate funds and providers objectively and without conflict of interest |
Familiarity with ERISA | Ability to keep the committee updated on litigation, legislation and regulations impacting plans fiduciaries |
Prudent Expert | ERISA section 404(a) requires fiduciaries to act with the skill, knowledge and expertise of a prudent expert |
Expertise with Plan Design | Ability to help plans maintain qualified status while continuing to meet the goals and objectives of our organization |
Knowledge of the Provider Marketplace | Ability to ensure that our plan is being administered in the most efficient manner and for a reasonable price |
Qualified Plan Investment Expertise | Ability to evaluate, select and monitor fund performance |
Documentation Skills | Ability to demonstrate procedural prudence in a well-documented manner |
Communication Skills | Ability to educate employers and employees regarding plan highlights, and how to create an appropriate investment strategy |
Acceptance of Role as an ERISA section 3(21)A Fiduciary or ERISA section 3(38) Fiduciary | Willingness to acknowledge in writing that they are a Fiduciary to your plan with respect to the investment advice being delivered |
Full and Open Disclosure | Fully and openly discloses all sources of fees being received on a direct and/or indirect basis |
ERISA’s rules are crystal clear: every decision you make as a fiduciary must be in the best interests of plan participants and their beneficiaries and certain relationships may result in prohibited transactions.
Horizons Financial Group is a member of Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG), a national alliance of defined contribution advisors in the United States representing over 2,000 select member firms, serving 80,000 sponsors with over $800 billion in collective assets under influence
RPAG and LPL Financial are separate entities.