Why Your Organization Needs a Qualified Plan Advisor: Navigating the Retirement Plan Landscape

Introduction

Retirement plans represent one of the most significant benefits employers can offer, but they also come with complex regulatory requirements, fiduciary responsibilities, and strategic considerations. While many organizations attempt to manage their qualified retirement plans internally or with minimal external support, working with a dedicated qualified plan advisor can provide substantial benefits. This article explores why partnering with a specialist in this area can protect your organization while maximizing the value of your retirement benefits.

The Evolving Retirement Plan Landscape

The qualified plan environment has grown increasingly complex over recent years:

• SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 introduced significant regulatory changes

• Department of Labor enforcement actions have intensified

• Participant lawsuits against plan sponsors have multiplied

• Investment options have expanded dramatically

• Employee expectations for retirement support have increased

Without specialized expertise, organizations face significant challenges in navigating this environment effectively.

The True Value of a Qualified Plan Advisor

Fiduciary Risk Mitigation

One of the most compelling reasons to engage a qualified plan advisor is protection from fiduciary liability.

The Value of a Qualified Plan Advisor

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ERISA imposes strict fiduciary responsibilities on plan sponsors. A qualified advisor can:

• Serve as a co-fiduciary under ERISA 3(21), sharing fiduciary responsibility

• Act as an ERISA 3(38) investment manager, assuming primary fiduciary responsibility for investments

• Document prudent processes that demonstrate fiduciary duty fulfillment

• Keep your organization updated on changing fiduciary requirements

• Provide fiduciary training for committee members and stakeholders

This protection alone often justifies the cost of specialized advisory services.

Cost Management

Despite common misconceptions, qualified plan advisors typically save organizations money through:

• Fee benchmarking and negotiation with service providers

• Identification of unnecessary services and associated fees

• Consolidation of services to eliminate redundancies

• Implementation of fee transparency and revenue sharing management

• Regular market checks to ensure competitive pricing

Many organizations discover their plans are significantly overpriced until a qualified advisor conducts a comprehensive cost analysis.

Compliance Navigation

The regulatory environment for qualified plans grows increasingly complex each year. Specialized advisors help by:

• Creating compliance calendars with critical deadlines

• Coordinating required testing and government filings

• Ensuring timely participant notifications and disclosures

• Reviewing plan operations for alignment with plan documents

• Facilitating timely plan amendments when regulations change

With Department of Labor and IRS penalties for non-compliance reaching significant levels, this oversight provides substantial value.

Investment Expertise

Qualified plan advisors bring specialized investment knowledge to:

• Develop appropriate investment policy statements

• Select and monitor investment options using rigorous criteria

• Provide quarterly investment performance reviews

• Evaluate specialized options like ESG investments or lifetime income solutions

• Document the prudent processes behind investment decisions

This expertise helps ensure your plan's investment lineup remains competitive while meeting diverse participant needs.

Beyond the Basics: Strategic Advisory Value

The most valuable qualified plan advisors go beyond technical compliance to provide strategic guidance:

Plan Design Optimization

An experienced advisor can help:

• Align plan provisions with organizational objectives

• Design features that maximize benefits for different participant groups

• Implement automatic features to improve participation and savings rates

• Create strategies for passing non-discrimination testing

• Develop phased approaches for enhancing benefits over time

These design optimizations can transform your retirement plan from a commodity benefit to a strategic advantage.

Employee Outcomes Focus

Leading advisors concentrate on improving retirement outcomes through:

• Comprehensive participant education and engagement strategies

• Financial wellness programs addressing broader financial health

• Personalized retirement readiness assessments and gap analyses

• Targeted communications for different demographic groups

• Measurement of success metrics beyond basic participation rates

This participant-centric approach helps ensure your retirement plan actually achieves its primary purpose: helping employees prepare for retirement.

Provider Management

Qualified plan advisors serve as valuable intermediaries with service providers:

• Conducting formal RFP processes when needed

• Holding providers accountable for service commitments

• Resolving service issues quickly and effectively

• Ensuring technology integrations work properly

• Coordinating communication between multiple providers

This oversight eliminates many common frustrations while ensuring you receive the services you're paying for.

Selecting the Right Qualified Plan Advisor

Not all retirement plan advisors offer the same value. When evaluating potential partners:

Look For:

• Specialized focus on retirement plans (not generalists)

• Appropriate fiduciary designations and willingness to serve in a fiduciary capacity

• Transparent fee structure with no hidden compensation

• Proven process for plan governance and oversight

• Strong service team with clearly defined responsibilities

• Experience with organizations of similar size and complexity

• Documented service model with measurable deliverables

Red Flags:

• Heavy focus on proprietary investment products

• Compensation tied to specific investment recommendations

• Limited experience with plans of your size or type

• Unclear or inconsistent service model

• Unwillingness to acknowledge fiduciary status

• Lack of documented processes for compliance and governance

Implementation Roadmap

If your organization decides to engage a qualified plan advisor, follow these steps:

1. Needs Assessment: Identify specific areas where advisory services would provide greatest value

2. RFP Development: Create a structured evaluation process for potential advisors

3. Service Agreement Review: Carefully evaluate proposed services, responsibilities and compensation

4. Transition Planning: Develop timeline and process for advisor implementation

5. Success Metrics: Establish clear metrics for measuring advisory relationship value

6. Regular Review: Schedule periodic relationship reviews to assess service delivery

Conclusion

In today's complex retirement plan environment, a qualified plan advisor represents an investment rather than an expense. The combination of fiduciary protection, regulatory compliance, cost management, and strategic guidance delivers substantial value that typically far exceeds the advisory fee.

By partnering with the right advisor, your organization can transform its retirement plan from a potential liability into a strategic asset—one that provides meaningful benefits to participants while supporting broader organizational objectives. Given the significant financial and legal risks associated with retirement plan sponsorship, qualified advisory support has become less a luxury and more a necessity for prudent plan management.

Consider conducting a review of your current retirement plan management approach to determine if specialized advisory services could enhance your plan's effectiveness while reducing organizational risk.