401K Plan Design and Benchmarking

Business Services Consulting

At Cox Wealth Management, we understand that running a small business is hard enough as it is without having to worry about your business’ financial plan. Our team is proud to partner with small business owners to service them in wealth management and in financial planning. We want to become your personal CFO for your business so that you can leave the financial handlings to us and concentrate on yourself and generate the growth of your business genuinely.

With our experience, we are amply prepared to help you identify a variety of tax and retirement planning opportunities for you and your business. We can also moderate your risks and plan for any transitions that your business may go through over a period of time. Along with providing expert advice for legal, tax, and financial affairs, your advisor can also focus on the “other” things that financial advisors usually fail to pursue, such as how those financial decisions align with the dreams that you have for your business.

As Plan Advisors, we accept ERISA 3(38) Liability in writing. Does your current provider? As fiduciaries to your company’s retirement plan, we offer plan sponsors significant fiduciary protection. Our investment processes are designed to adhere to the fiduciary standards necessary in today’s markets.

Fiduciary Oversight

At our financial advisory firm, we understand the challenges small and medium-sized businesses face when it comes to managing retirement plans. Many owners and executives struggle to find the time and resources to fulfill their fiduciary obligations properly, leaving them vulnerable to personal liability. That's why we designed a fiduciary monitoring program to provide our clients with a high level of assurance and protect them from potential risks.

Our program offers a comprehensive range of services to help plan sponsors demonstrate committee decision-making, evaluate key factors required in investment management, and adhere to a properly designed plan document and investment strategies through an Investment Policy Statement. We help our clients avoid conflicts of interest and monitor plan service providers according to benchmarks for plan sponsors.

To ensure fiduciary obligations are met, our program includes quarterly or semi-annual investment committee meetings to review investment policy documents, evaluate service providers, and make informed decisions. We keep detailed meeting summaries, newsletters, compliance documentation, and employee education materials to demonstrate the decision-making process.

Our goal is to help our clients align their internal responsibilities and benchmarking processes with the services of operational platform providers, such as administrators, record keepers, custodians, and investment managers. With our fiduciary monitoring program, our clients can have peace of mind knowing their retirement plans are managed responsibly and in compliance with industry standards.

Investment Selection and Monitoring Due Diligence Processes

At our firm, we understand the importance of investment due diligence and the volatility of capital markets. That is why we take a comprehensive approach to developing and maintaining an investment strategy for retirement plan sponsors and their fiduciaries. This includes creating an Investment Policy Statement and monitoring the plan's investments against applicable indices and the broader universe of options.

Our industry best practices and qualitative and quantitative research provide detailed analyses and executive summaries to the plan committee, showing which investments pass the screening process and which need to be monitored for successive quarters. With this process, we strive to create confidence in the plan’s investments so that they are diversified, well managed, and meet the stated objectives of the IPS.

Participant Education and Communication

To create a framework for participant education and communication, we develop an Education Policy Statement. This policy is a critical component to the long-term success of a participant’s retirement plans.

We review with the retirement plan committee the range of investment education topics that can be distributed to participants and then create the most appropriate program for their employee population.

Of vital importance to the long-term success of the plan is the consistent implementation of this participant education. We seek to increase employee knowledge of the specific plan benefits and hence increased participation.

EPS Communication Strategy

Pre-enrollment emails, posters and announcements
All on-site meetings conducted by seasoned advisors
On-site group enrollment meetings
On-site individual enrollment meetings
On-site group investment education meetings
Video teleconferencing meetings for remote locations
Access to on-line investment and financial planning tools
Customer service representatives and e-mail contacts for plan participants

Plan Benchmarking

We understand the confusion and time-consuming nature of gathering pricing information and benchmarking it to peer groups and indexes. That's why we help plan sponsors break down the fee structures of the various administrative, recordkeeping, compliance, and employee communication service contracts. Disassembling these fees enables a review of fees that are excessive relative to peers, and we act as a partner to plan sponsors in analyzing all the embedded fees in their current plans and continuously review cost structures and contracts as plan assets grow. This ensures that plan sponsors and participants alike are paying reasonable fees relative to other providers.

Plan Design and Compliance

Our advisors understand the competitive marketplace and the ever-changing legislative landscape that affects plan sponsors. To ensure plan sponsors are compliant with the regulations and their participants are accessing new products and services when appropriate, we review the plan’s design from an objective and unbiased perspective. We also provide guidance on recent legislation which focuses on increasing plan participation, and suggest changes to the plan design which can help sponsors achieve these goals.

Possible Concerns

Increased employee deferral limits and employee tax credit incentives
Increased employer plan contribution deduction limits
The relationship between loan incidence and plan participation
Tiered and Age-Weighted discretionary contribution formulas
Online participant access for account balance inquiry and changes
Key personnel Internet access to plan and participant data
Paperless enrollment
Electronic transmittal of payroll, loan and distribution transactions
Automatic enrollment/negative election
Controlled Group plan set-up and design alternatives
Optimum frequency and educational content of employee communications
Complying with 404(c) investment guidelines and requirements
Management of the conversion/transition process

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