Benchmarking Your 401(k) Plan

In order to maintain compliance and serving the benefits of your company and your employees, benchmarking is one of the requirements every plan administrator should perform every 2-3 years. There are many ways to accomplish this task. However, in most cases, the process can be narrowed down into two categories: using a benchmarking tool or company that will compare your plan with industry averages, or for the plan administrator to contact several record keepers and have them price what they can do with your plan from where you stand now. The former does not give you competitive  comparisons if they are basing the cost on an average price model. And the latter is time consuming and difficult for someone not in the business to know where to look at all of the costs and where they could potentially be hiding. 

To me, the best best solution would be to connect with an advisor who is versed with the nuances of many plans and record keepers and then having that person place the recordkeepers in a competitive environment so that they know up front that in order for them to get your business, they have to earn the right to it. There are many good companies that would like to provide you with their plans. However, without competition, there is little or no incentive for them to give you their very best price. 

But let's not stop there. The recordkeeper is only one part of the plan. Is your plan bundled or un-bundled? Do you have a TPA and are they competing for your business as well? Are the funds in the plan the most competitive the firms offer? Chances are, that if the funds being used are more than 3 years old, they are not. Are they still performing at the highest levels in their class? How do you know? 

What about the advisor? How often does he/she initiate contact or offer education for the participants? Once a month? Once a year? Never? 

Benchmarking isn't just about the cost; even though that's what it often comes down to. But, it's also about the value that the plan brings to your employees. It's about finding the right mix of good pricing and great service. 

The question is, how do you find it?

I think I've come up with the answer. If you are willing to do a little bit of work, I believe that I can get you the answers to what constitutes good pricing and great service. What that means is, for now anyway, I will benchmark your existing plan so that you will meet your fiduciary obligation and all you have to do is click here or fill out the form below and avail yourself to a conference call with the decision makers and I will do it for you. 

Below is a form button for you to click in order to adhere to your fiduciary requirements. Once you have done that, we will submit that information to several top rated record keepers, TPAs and Payroll providers to see if they can compete with the firm(s) you are currently using. Please let us know which areas you are most concerned about and we will endeavor to help you find a better solution. 

If you want to speed up the process, just click here and go directly to my contact page or you can even call me. I will do whatever I can to make the process easier than if you were to do it alone. Thanks you. 

Lannie