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Vantage Retirement Services
- 1. … bringing clarity to retirement plans
- 3. THE PLAN Controlling Plan Costs Mitigating Plan Risk Administrative Compliance Optimizing Plan Design Corporate Strategy Benchmarking Day-to-Day Legislative Change
- 9. Controlling Plan Costs Mitigating Plan Risk Administrative Compliance Optimizing Plan Design Corporate Strategy Benchmarking Day-to-Day Legislative Change
- 12. The Process
- 13. Contact Us Today! Vantage Retirement Services 713-401-9481 www.vantageretirement.net [email_address] Let us know if we can help … it’s what we do!
Editor's Notes
- Vantage Retirement Services … bringing clarity to retirement plans Our vision is to be a trustworthy, objective resource to Employers who offer an employer-sponsored retirement program to their employees. We seek to help Plan Sponsors understand their Plans, fulfill their obligations, and mitigate their risks.
- Retirement Plan Sponsors have a tough job! As a Plan Sponsor you need to have experience and some level of expertise in all of these areas! Accounting Fiduciary Standards Cost Control Legal Documents ERISA Law And so much more!
- When you’re responsible for a Plan, you are pulled in many directions You must control the costs in the Plan You need to mitigate the risks of the Plan You need to optimize the plan design to benefit both the employees and you as the Plan Sponsor And you must remain administratively compliant At the same time, you must benchmark the plan against your competitors, keep up with legislative changes, stay in touch with corporate strategy, and just keep the plan running day-to-day
- When it comes to controlling plan costs, you have many different kinds of costs to keep an eye on within the Plan Administration and Recordkeeping costs – what’s included and how much it costs The costs of the investments in the plan – investment management fees, revenue sharing arrangements, etc. Costs for compliance services and auditing Ancillary costs like communications and participant education And you need to make sure you are getting the all of the services you are paying for!
- Qualified Retirement Plans carry many risks Fiduciary risk - remember it is not just professional … it’s personal ! Are you protecting yourself and the company? Investment risk – are the funds in the plan appropriate and well-monitored? Retirement risk – does the plan overall provide a sufficient mechanism for your employees to save adequately for retirement? This particular risk is increasing in today’s environment and should be a great concern for employers.
- There are many elements to plan design that can be established, modified, or eliminated to make the plan operate most effectively, including: Eligibility requirements Different types of contributions Rollovers in and out of the plan Enrollment requirements and procedures Vesting schedules The types of distributions allowed under the plan The quantity, parameters, and availability of participant loans The process for approving, granting and monitoring hardship withdrawals And the process for qualifying and executing domestic relations orders.
- Keeping your Plan in proper compliance with all existing regulations can be a big task. While many service providers assist with these tasks, the ultimate responsibility for them remains with the Plan Sponsor. You need to insure that all required notices are being delivered to the right people at the right time and that reporting and filings are accurate and meet all regulatory requirements. You need to monitor how well your employees are making use of the Plan you have established for their benefit. If they are not, why not? You have an obligation to provide sufficient information and education to your participants to assist them in making wise choices within the Plan. And you need to comply with annual testing requirements around non-discrimination and/or top heavy status.
- At the same time, you have additional responsibilities. You need to benchmark your plan to see how well it is doing against plans of similar size and type, as well as against the plans of your industry peers. You need to keep up with legislative changes to determine their impact on your plan and its operations and if they provide any additional opportunities. You need to determine how the Plan fits in with your company’s overall corporate strategy. And you need to keep an eye on your day-to-day processes related to the Plan, like payroll deductions, contribution funding, etc., with an eye toward always making those processes better. Oh, and you have the rest of your job description to handle, too!
- The good news is that Vantage Retirement Services can assist you with all of these responsibilities. We make your plan our priority and help you feel comfortable that you are fulfilling your responsibilities properly and effectively.
- So how do we do that? Our solution is a comprehensive retirement program review. This review incorporates not just your 401(k) plan, but any other retirement or savings-related plans like top hat plans, non-qualified deferred compensation plans, executive savings plans, etc. We look at your retirement program as a whole. Because Vantage Retirement is not affiliated with any of your service providers, the review is independent and objective – seeking only to make recommendations that are in the best interest of the Plan, you as the Plan Sponsor, and the Plan’s participants. Conducting an independent review of this type will help you document and demonstrate your fiduciary responsibility to monitor your Plan. It will identify priorities for change that are specific to your Plans and present an action plan for making the recommended changes. It also includes a one-year subscription to the BrightScope Plan Management Dashboard, so that you can monitor the ongoing improvements to your Plan throughout the year.
- These are the typical areas covered in our Comprehensive Program Review. Additional topics may be added depending upon the specific needs of the Plan Sponsor. Vantage Retirement is not a registered investment advisor. As such, our discussion of investments within the plan is limited to general observations about the diversity of the fund line-up. We cannot speak to the quality or suitability of the funds within the Plan. We recommend that all Plan Sponsors seek the professional advice of a competent, fee-based investment advisor with experience advising qualified retirement plans and willing to serve in a fiduciary capacity to you and the Plan. Any non-administrative changes recommended which may require amendment to the legal Plan Documents should be reviewed by a competent ERISA attorney.
- The Review Process is simple. Vantage will collect all of the necessary documents and data from you and your service providers. We will analyze that data and make recommendations to improve the Plan in each of the key areas (controlling costs, mitigating risk, optimizing plan design, and administrative compliance). We will then present to you a comprehensive written report including all of our analysis, commentary, conclusions, and recommendations along with an action plan for next steps. This report is typically at least 50 pages in length and given to you neatly bound. We will review it with you page-by-page to make sure you are clear on its contents. But we don’t leave you hanging there. Vantage Retirement will be around to assist you with implementation of any of the action steps you choose to proceed with. That may mean assisting you with renegotiating fees or service levels with your providers, arranging for plan amendments, assisting with employee communications, establishing proper due diligence files, or any other of a myriad of projects related to helping your operate your Plan the best you can.