“Who is a Fiduciary?”
- How do you determine who is a fiduciary in a qualified plan?
- What duties and responsibilities does a fiduciary have?
- What exposure does the fiduciary have?
- “Named Fiduciary” and “Plan Administrator”; technical terms defined for practical use.
- Specific duties of the fiduciary in the operations of the plan.
- Other third parties such as an investment advisor acting as co-fiduciary and corresponding responsibilities.
- Service providers to the plan may or may not be a fiduciary.
- Determining liability in a fiduciary capacity.
- Fiduciary risk and ways to reduce it.
- Effectively using co-fiduciaries.
- How to select service providers in meeting your fiduciary responsibilities.
- What is the financial statement audit requirement of a retirement plan?
- When is a financial audit required?
- “Large Plan” requirement and how to work with it.
- 5% Non-Qualifying asset requirement and how to work with it.
- The importance of selecting a financial auditor.
- Resources available to help you with your auditor selection.
- Tips in avoiding or delaying a financial audit.
- Why and how the financial audit goes beyond financial statements.
- Evaluating the plan’s operation is in compliance with plan document provision.
- Why the testing is so meticulous?
- Advice to make the financial audit go smoothly.
- How your retirement plan’s definition of “compensation” is used.
- Why providing accurate compensation data is so important.
- Consequences of using the wrong definition of compensation.
- Remedies to typical errors in employee or employer contributions.
- Advice on how to avoid problems regarding compensation.
- Your fiduciary obligations relating to plan expenses.
- Department of Labor scrutiny of plan fees.
- Types of plan fee arrangements.
- Service provider requirements on plan fee disclosure.
- What is “auto enrollment” and how does it work?
- An example of a typical auto enrollment arrangements using an escalation feature.
- The benefits of using auto enrollment.
- How Congress has supported the use of auto enrollment and why that’s important to you.
- Disadvantages of auto enrollment to consider.
- Explanation of the legal document requirements governing a qualified retirement plan.
- Why do the rules governing retirement plans change so frequently?
- Updating your plan to comply with new rules using amendments or restatements.
- Properly documenting design changes to your plan.
- The importance of properly maintaining your plan as your business changes.