Retirement Plan Solutions
Retirement Plan Steps
Working in partnership with service providers AWC assists Trustees in meeting their fiduciary responsibilities by working through these four steps:
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During the Organize phase, Abundance conducts a comprehensive and thorough Fiduciary Review of a company’s existing plan. The review begins with the Trustees and Abundance collecting, analyzing, and reviewing all the documents pertaining to the establishment and management of the plan. During the review Abundance assists in determining which type of retirement plan is the best based upon plan assets and the size of the company. Throughout the review Abundance will educate the Trustees on their fiduciary duties and how those duties can be fulfilled.
During the Formalize phase, Abundance assists Trustees in creating an Investment Policy Statement (IPS). The IPS formalizes the policies of the plan and serves as guidelines for conducting the plan implementation and monitoring. The IPS should accurately reflect how the plan is managed and how fiduciary responsibility is executed. The IPS includes details such as; plan purpose and objective, roles and responsibilities, asset class and allocation guidelines, benchmark and return assumptions, investment selection criteria, and investment monitoring guidelines.
During the implementation phase, Abundance works with Trustees, Third Party Administrators (TPAs), and the plan investment platform. Abundance acts as the main point of contact not only for the Trustee but also for all service providers so that the implementation of the plan runs smoothly. During the Implement phase Abundance will perform thorough and independent due diligence on investment options according to the guidelines set forth in the Investment Policy Statement (IPS) created during the Formalize phase. Abundance will also provide information to assist participants in making decisions on contribution levels and investment selections.
During the Monitor phase, Abundance continues to conduct thorough due diligence on the plan’s underlying investments. Abundance utilizes independent resources to analyze the underlying investments performance to ensure that the investments did not deviate from the Investment Policy Selection criteria. The reports generated during the Monitor phase are provided to the Trustees on a quarterly basis.