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The CSD Retirement Trust
“Cooperative buying power that benefits
Districts and their Participants”
-over-
CSD-RT 010117
The story behind the CSD Retirement Trust
The mission of Cooperating School Districts (“EdPlus as of 2013”) is to provide School Districts with high-quality and
cost-effective services, resources and leadership to achieve educational excellence for all stakeholders in Public education.
EdPlus is a non-profit educational service agency that brings School Districts together to share resources, information and
ideas through exemplary, nationally-recognized services in educational technology, cooperative purchasing, staff
development and more.
On July 23
rd
, 2007, the IRS issued the long-awaited new 403(b) regulations. These were the first major changes to 403(b)
regulations since the early 1960’s. The majority of these regulations went into effect on January 1
st
2009. At that time,
403(b) plans began to undergo extensive changes, making them look much more like other salary reduction arrangements
including 401(k) plans. These changes created challenges for many Public School Districts around the country, including
yours. Due to these new regulations, Districts had a strong motivation to improve plan administration & compliance,
provider service and fees, all while enhancing employee retirement outcomes and highlighting the 403(b) as a critical
employee benefit that helps Districts attract and retain top talent.
EdPlus began to listen to Districts as they communicated the challenges they were facing with the changing landscape.
They were asking… “What can EdPlus do from a consortium standpoint to help us?” For many Districts, the typical
403(b) & 457(b) landscape was a “multi-provider” environment, oftentimes referred to as the “Wild, Wild West” by
District officials. Sales representatives of competing vendors, fighting for their share of clients and available assets.
Employees were oftentimes confused and over-whelmed with multiple vendor choices. There was no single
comprehensive retirement message to all employees regarding the importance of supplemental savings. Typically, 403(b)
environments had multiple vendors and products, varying pricing structures, lack of transparency, lack of investment
monitoring, and in some cases, serious compliance and administration challenges at the District level. As part of EdPlus’s
cooperative purchasing efforts, the “CSD Retirement Trust (CSD RT)” was created as a “controlled access model” (single
provider) solution to these regulation changes and to improve participant outcomes.
In early 2009, EdPlus began the process of forming a task force made up of member Districts including business officials,
educators and NEA representatives. In order, the following items were accomplished:
A task force was formed to select a retirement plan consultant and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) to assist
in the creation of the Trust. An RFP was issued and as result, CBIZ Retirement Plan Services was chosen as a
trusted advisor. This relationship was validated again in 2015 with another RFP and a further fee reduction.
Expert retirement plan legal counsel was engaged to build the Trust’s administrative and compliance features
through customized plan documents. Legal counsel continues to serve the Trust.
A second task force was formed to develop an RFP for a qualified vendor. The RFP was released to fourteen
vendors resulting in nine proposals. Three finalists made in-person presentations to the task force which resulted
in the selection of VALIC as the Trust’s single provider for recordkeeping, compliance & administration services.
In the spring of 2014, the Trust took the program to market once again. An RFQ and RFP were issued and posted
publicly to give all marketplace vendors an opportunity to respond. As a result, out of four finalists, VALIC
again carried the day and secured an extension of their agreement with the trust and a -33% reduction in cost for
recordkeeping, compliance & administration services.
A CSD RT “Board of Advisors” was formed to include representatives from each participating School District.
The Board of Advisors elected three Trustees and meets on a quarterly basis to conduct the Trust’s business. If
your District chooses to join the CSD Retirement Trust, you will have a representative of your District on the
Board of Advisors.
An Investment Committee was formed with the assistance of CBIZ. The committee approved an Investment
Policy Statement (IPS) which provides the Trust with guidance on the selection, monitoring and replacement of
investment managers. This provides a due diligence process for
investment selection that is typically not
available in a multi-vendor environment. As a Registered Investment Advisor, CBIZ is independent and takes on
a fiduciary status for the advice rendered to the Trust.
There are no out of pocket costs for a District to join the CSD RT for any recordkeeping, administration or
compliance services.