Useful Information for Plan Sponsors
Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities
Excerpt: "To meet their responsibilities as plan sponsors,
employers need to understand some basic rules, specifically the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA sets standards of conduct for
those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets (called
fiduciaries). 'Meeting Your Fiduciary Responsibilities' provides an overview
of the basic fiduciary responsibilities applicable to retirement plans under
the law." (U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security
Administration)
Understanding & Managing Fiduciary Responsibility: a Guide for
Plan Sponsors (PDF)
Excerpt: "The first step in developing a plan's investment
program is to decide on the investment categories to be offered by the plan.
Each category should have distinct risk and return features that enable plan
sponsors to construct a diversified portfolio and, for participant directed
plans, allows the participants to combine investments in a way that
accomplishes their objectives–based on their need for investment return and
their willingness to accept investment risk." (Principal Financial Group)
Another Way to Spell “Relief”: E-P-C-R-S [Employee Plans Compliance
Resolution System] (PDF)
Excerpt: "The IRS is well aware that mistakes can and do
happen. That's why the IRS has in place a system that lets you bring your
plan back into compliance without losing its tax benefits: the Employee
Plans Compliance Resolution System, or 'EPCRS'. EPCRS encompasses three
distinct correction programs: 1) the Self-Correction Program; 2) the
Voluntary Correction Program; and 3) the Audit Closing Agreement Program."
(Retirement News for Employers (Summer 2004); Internal Revenue Service)
Article: Self-Directed Brokerage Accounts, Retirement Success, and Plan
Sponsor Liability (PDF)
7 pages. Excerpt: "Contrary to what many purveyors of
brokerage services may tell plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries continue to
retain significant fiduciary responsibility and liability by selecting the
provider or restricting the range of investments that may be offered in a
self-directed brokerage account. The plan sponsor has a fiduciary duty of
prudence in the selection and retention of investment choices, including
those in self-directed brokerage accounts." (Journal of Pension Benefits via
Unified Trust)
