Wealth Management and Financial Planning - Des Plaines, IL
Retirement Plan Services
When you choose to put a retirement plan in place for your business, there are many details to consider and many service providers to choose from. The act of creating a Retirement Plan is easy – thousands of employers provide them. However, finding someone who will act as your co-fiduciary, someone who will build long-lasting relationships, and someone with decades of experience: that’s where it gets tougher, and that’s why we created a service specifically designed to support Plan Sponsors.
The heart of the matter is this: you want to provide a retirement plan to help keep and attract the right talent.
Benefits are a big investment, so when employees don’t appreciate the benefits, it can be frustrating on many levels – the effort it takes to put them in place and manage them, the costs, even the fiduciary risks you assume.
We understand. We have been helping Plan Sponsors put great plans in place for over 25 years – plans that support the organizational objectives of attracting and retaining good employees and helping them prepare for a financially secure future.
How do you make that happen?
We start with three core principles: Independence, Objectivity and Transparency. WealthPlanners is an independent firm and that means we have no formal or informal marketing arrangements with any service providers. That allows us to bring independent Best-In-Class solutions to the table.
Together as part of your team, we will actively work with your plan committee to establish the objectives for the plan, develop policies that define the governance of the plan, oversee the investment management process and support your employees in their effort to achieve a financially secure retirement.
Our business objective is simple: build long-lasting relationships with Plan Sponsors using prudent fiduciary practices to grow and protect participants’ assets towards the goal of attaining a financially secure retirement. We do this by understanding your business goals and objectives and adhering to the Global Fiduciary Standard of Excellence; this means acting in the best interest of our client.
We can act as 3(21) or 3(38) advisors to the plan thus making us co-fiduciaries to the retirement plan. As fiduciaries to the plan we shall discharge our duties with respect to the plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of:
(I) Providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries and
(II) Defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan.
Our Service Offering
Our Plan Sponsor services are focused on establishing a sound fiduciary governance process. ERISA emphasizes a “prudent process” should be employed in the management of a retirement plan. Our process combines sound fiduciary principles and industry best practices to promote improved retirement outcomes.
Our Plan Sponsor services include:
- Plan Design Review
- Draft Investment Policy
- Investment Selection and Oversight
- Vendor Benchmarking
- Plan Performance and Activity Reporting
- Vendor Analysis and Transition Management
- Provide Leadership in Governance of Plan Responsibilities
Our Participant Services take a multi-channel approach to helping your employees stay present and attentive to their work, knowing that their plan has them on the road toward being financially prepared to meet their needs in retirement.
We offer a range of financial topics to help your employees understand the importance of saving for retirement and taking charge of their financial futures.
Investment Oversight and Plan Governance
The heart of our investment selection and monitoring process is the Investment Policy Statement (IPS).
The purpose of this IPS is to assist your Investment Committee in effectively supervising, monitoring and evaluating the management of the Retirement Plan.
In addition to defining the metrics that will be used for the selection and monitoring of the Plan’s investments, the IPS also defines the roles and responsibilities of those charged with overseeing the Plan.
The quantitative metrics for evaluating the investments can vary from client to client based on the input from the Investment Committee, however, all investments are measured according to the following criteria:
- Minimum Track Record
- Assets in Investment
- Stability of Management
- Style Consistency
- Fees Relative to Peers
- Regulatory/ Legal Issues
- Performance Relative to Peers
- Risk Adjusted Performance
Vendor Benchmarking
The process of monitoring and benchmarking fees is based on how they compare to other plans similar in size and service requirements. The law stresses the plan needs to be reasonably priced compared to plans of similar size with similar demographics; we believe it is equally important to understand how well a service provider can assist each participant in achieving a financially secure retirement.
We provide statistical cost averages for plans of similar size and services. It allows us to compare cost in the context of services received and allows the plan committee to make a determination whether or not the fees being paid are reasonable and competitive to industry benchmarks.
Action speaks louder…
Ultimately, our work isn’t about the IPS, being a co-fiduciary, or knowing every detail of every plan – our work is about creating a retirement plan that helps you achieve your business objectives. Your retirement program can be an essential part of achieving your organizational objectives. Ask yourself:
- Does our retirement plan attract and retain the right employees?
- Do our employees view the retirement plan as a real benefit for working here?
- Does our retirement plan motivate our employees to improve their productivity?
- If you own the business, does the retirement plan help you achieve your personal goals?
If the answer to each of these questions was not a resounding “yes”, we encourage you to contact us.
Our work is based on prudent fiduciary practices designed to keep your plan in compliance. Our team consists of Accredited Investment Fiduciaries and, combined, we have over 50 years of experience servicing company sponsored retirement savings plans. During that time, we have helped our clients weather market disruptions and navigate through the labyrinth of laws that govern employer sponsored retirement plans.
Our goal is wealth creation. Our understanding of the rules that govern retirement plans allows us to introduce strategies that help our clients maximize the opportunity for both themselves, and their employees, to build a financially secure future. We focus on their future so they can focus on today.