Feature
Plan fiduciaries often wear more than just one “hat” for
their employer. They have various responsibilities and are
often saddled with a myriad of roles besides being a “plan
fiduciary.” They are usually also the CFO, HR execs, or
VP’s of Finance and accounting, who often have the added
pressure to increase sales, cut costs and improve profitability.
In addition to their daily day-to-day roles and responsibilities,
a plan fiduciary has decision making authority over the
retirement plan(s) and is duty-bound to take non-conflicted,
affirmative action(s) for the sole benefit of plan participants
and their beneficiaries.
You may not have any worries. You may not even be thinking
about your retirement plan. Your firm’s current retirement
plan may actually seem to be going well. Your employees
might be participating in pretty good numbers. Everyone
may seem happy. You haven’t heard of many complaints
and you have a few meetings a year where you—and your
committee—listen to service provider updates and investment
data and your returns seem within appropriate ranges. All
seems great, right? Not necessarily. Those donuts aren’t
‘fresh’! There is a lot more you need to be aware of and to
be proactively doing to ensure you meet the standards of
fiduciary