A robust fiduciary governance structure allows employers to proactively manage their retirement plan to ensure its ongoing health and success. It will enable you to develop an objective process to select and monitor investments and service providers. If structured correctly, it can help keep costs low, create administrative efficiencies, avoid conflicts of interest, and improve participant outcomes.
Outcomes for the plan sponsor with a solid fiduciary governance structure can include the following:
- Keep the plan in compliance with the plan document and the regulations
- Develop sound internal controls
- Establish ownership of oversight of the plan
- Documentation of a prudent process
- Review participant needs and consider engagement strategies
- Keep costs low and reasonable
- Align the retirement program with the overall compensation and benefits package
And the point of all of this? To create a Gratitude plan. Yes, it’s a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) plan, or a (insert a multitude of plan types here) plan. But ultimately, it could become a Gratitude plan. If you do the fiduciary parts right, do it well, and look to improve the plan consistently, you can build a retirement plan that receives employees' thanks and gratitude. When an employee leaves or retires, we’d like their sentiment to be one of appreciation for knowing this plan considerably helped them on their retirement savings journey. That’s it. That’s the goal. And that’s the point of all this “fiduciary stuff.”
Multnomah Group is a registered investment adviser, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any information contained herein or on Multnomah Group’s website is provided for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Multnomah Group does not provide legal or tax advice. Any views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Multnomah Group or Multnomah Group’s clients.