The Value of Hiring an Advisor for Your Retirement Plan
As a plan sponsor, you have a responsibility to manage your 401(k) plan in the best interest of your employees. This means selecting the right investments, managing fees, and ensuring compliance with complex regulations like ERISA.
Managing a retirement plan is not an easy task, and can be time-consuming and complex. That’s why it’s helpful to have a retirement plan advisor by your side, to help you navigate these challenges and make informed decisions about your plan.
Here are some of the benefits of hiring a retirement plan advisor:
1. Expertise and Knowledge
An experienced retirement plan advisor brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table, helping you make appropriate decisions about your plan. They can help you select the right investments, monitor your plan’s performance, and ensure that your plan is compliant with regulatory requirements.
Lebel & Harriman has been advising on corporate retirement plans since 1978 and across our team of nine professionals, we have over 350 years of collective industry experience. We work with over 200 ERISA retirement plans representing over $4 billion in assets under advisement. Our team has experience with 401(k)/403(b) plans, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), non-qualified deferred compensation plans, Cash Balance plans, student loan assistance programs, and a variety of tax-advantaged retention tools.
2. Fiduciary Support
A retirement plan advisor can act as a fiduciary to your plan, providing you with valuable support and guidance on fiduciary responsibilities. This can help you avoid potential lawsuits or penalties for non-compliance.
At Lebel & Harriman, we can help you manage your potential liability by acting as either a 3(21) or 3(38) fiduciary advisor. In addition to our investment advisory services, we provide a number of important services that can limit your fiduciary liability. These include fiduciary training, development of plan governance documents (Investment Policy Statements and Committee Charters), and drafting of meeting minutes.
3. Cost Savings
A retirement plan advisor can help you identify and reduce unnecessary fees and expenses, which can add up over time and eat into your employees’ retirement savings.
Lebel & Harriman provides independent fee benchmarking, conducts provider request-for-proposal (RFP) projects, and negotiates providers’ fees. We are able to leverage our scale to access the lowest cost mutual fund and collective investment trust (CIT) pricing. Our Retirement Plans Analyst works to ensure your plan’s services providers are priced as efficiently as possible.
4. Administrative Excellence
Starting and administering a retirement plan can be labor intensive. A successful retirement plan advisor ensures that your retirement plan works for your people and for you. That means making the plan as efficient to administer as possible.
Lebel & Harriman has dedicated Relationship Managers who take a proactive role in making sure your plan runs smoothly. This includes providing administrative support, being your day-to-day point-of-contact, and coordinating with each of your other service providers, as needed. For large filers, our RMs can also provide audit support.
5. Improved Participant Outcomes
Perhaps most important, a retirement plan advisor can help you improve participant outcomes through effective plan design and by providing education and guidance on retirement planning. This can help your employees make informed decisions about their retirement savings, leading to better outcomes for everyone.
L&H offers a wide variety of educational resources designed to meet people wherever they are at in today’s world. We offer group meetings, one-on-one meetings, monthly financial wellness webinars, monthly financial wellness newsletters, and customized education modules. In addition, we have a dedicated Retirement Counselor who is available throughout the year for employee questions.
At Lebel & Harriman Retirement Advisors, we specialize in providing retirement plan advisory services to plan sponsors like you. We have a deep understanding of the challenges you face and the tools and resources to help you overcome them.
We offer a range of services, including plan design, investment selection, fiduciary support, and participant education. Our goal is to help you build a retirement plan that meets the needs of your organization and delivers the best possible outcomes for your employees.
To learn more, please contact us at info@lebelharriman.com. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have and help you take the first step towards a better retirement plan.
This document is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness.
