Trustee Directed

If you’re an employer with an existing group plan or are about to start a new plan, you need Alison, LLC. You may already know about the mounds of paperwork that you are required to do, or the research, education and filings, but don’t forget about the big responsibility to comply with all the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulations. ERISA governs qualified retirement plans, also known as 401(k) plans, pension plans or profit sharing plans plus others.

There are two ways to set up a pension plan, either participant directed, where the participants make their own investment decisions and their earnings are individually based on those decisions or trustee directed where all assets are invested within a commingled portfolio and each participant earns the same rate of return.

The key directors of a plan are the fiduciaries and trustees.

Fiduciaries are responsible for the administration of the plans. They have control of the plan assets, give investment advice and have unrestricted authority over the administration of the plan. Fiduciaries can include employers that sponsor a plan, investment managers, plan trustees or plan managers.

There are two types of trustees; discretionary and directed. Discretionary trustees normally have complete responsibility for the assets of the plan. Directed trustees (the most common) are appointed and directed by the named fiduciary of the plan and act more as a custodian. They have no discretionary authority with respect to the investment of plan assets, selection of service providers, distribution of assets, or proper plan administration. The trustee is normally the owners or officers of a business but can be an affiliate say of a financial firm.

Setting up and managing a group plan can be very complicated and you can be personally liable for losses and expected to reimburse the plan should you mess up. Adopting the plan and assigning key people to direct it is just the beginning. There are tons of regulations, mostly written in legal jargon, and complicated paperwork that needs to be done. There is also a huge amount of accountability that comes along with the job.

We know you have better things to do like staying focused on what you do best – run your business. Let Alison, LLC guide you through the group planning setup and management. We can relieve you of a lot of the responsibilities acting as your fiduciary or trustee of your plan.

Alison, LLC your trusted partner for all your group planning needs.