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Investment Consulting Services & Due Diligence Process
Effective May 2014
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Retirement Plan Committee members are
charged with managing a plan with skill, care
and prudence. We believe that retirement
plan committees should retain Registered
Investment Advisors (RIA) to guide them in
providing a prudent menu of investment
options to plan participants. In addition, we
strongly urge committees to retain experts
for ongoing consulting and the formal
documentation of their due diligence.
The formal documentation of due diligence
begins with the drafting of an Investment
Policy Statement. This statement serves as
the blueprint against which a committee
reviews a plan. The statement should define
the objectives of the committee, fiduciary
duties and responsibilities, investment policy
guidelines and review procedures. The
Sample Client Investment Policy Statement
will be a formal document which defines the
retirement
committee
objectives
and
standards against which the plan’s platform
and individual investment options will be
evaluated on a periodic basis.
Ongoing documentation of investment due
diligence for the Sample Client Retirement
Plan will consist of a formal plan review. Plan
investment reviews contain a market
commentary, plan level asset allocation,
performance
analysis
and
individual
commentary on each investment option. We
will prepare investment reviews quarterly
and formally present these reviews to the
committee.
Our investment consulting services will
include, but are not limited to the following:
Drafting
and
maintenance
of
an
Investment Policy Statement
Preparation of quarterly investment
reviews
Preparation of quarterly participant
letters
Quarterly presentations to retirement
plan committee
Development
of
recommended
investment option menu
Maintenance of watch list for investment
options
As a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), we
serve as a co-fiduciary of your plan, which
means we are held responsible for
determining the investment line-up and its
suitability. When building a retirement plan
portfolio it is essential to provide investment
options that enable participants to build a
well-diversified portfolio. Therefore, one of
the initial steps in our due diligence process
is to provide participants with investment
options that are broadly diversified over the
following categories/style:
Stable Value
– funds investing in money
markets and/or guaranteed insurance
contracts (GIC)
Bonds –
funds investing in government
and corporate bonds
Balanced
– funds investing in money
markets, bonds and stocks
Growth & Income
– funds investing in
large-cap value companies as well as an
index fund that mirrors the S&P 500
Growth
– funds investing in large-cap
growth companies
Aggressive Equity
– funds investing in
small/mid growth and value companies
Global/International
– funds investing
in companies that exist outside of the
United States
Investment
Consulting
Services & Due
Diligence Process
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