Retirement Plan Sponsors

Members of a retirement plan committee are ERISA fiduciaries, and the duty is personal: act solely in the interest of participants, follow a prudent process, and keep plan costs reasonable. Most claims against plan sponsors focus on process rather than results: fees that were never benchmarked, decisions that were never documented, and an investment lineup nobody reviewed against the plan’s investment policy statement.

These guides are written for the people who sit on 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit and cash balance plan committees: HR and finance leaders, executives, and the trustees of plans sponsored by nonprofits and professional firms. Each one turns a fiduciary duty into the documents and meeting habits that demonstrate it.

Start here

• A 401(k) committee member’s fiduciary duties
• Writing a 401(k) investment policy statement
• Five practices that help prevent fiduciary lawsuits
• Managed accounts in defined contribution plans
• Traditional vs. Roth 401(k) contributions
• How cash balance plans work
• Asset-liability management for defined benefit plans
• Collective investment trusts in 403(b) plans

Reviewing your plan consultant? Our free RFP template includes an optional section for ERISA plan sponsors, and our retirement plan practice explains how we work with committees.