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Investment Consulting Services & Due Diligence Process

Effective May 2014

1

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

52