Useful Documents From Summit


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)

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