Benchmarking & Request for Proposals
Benchmarking & RFPs
Benchmarking
The Importance of Benchmarking Services for Advisory and Retirement Plan Vendor Services
The Department of Labor has set a high standard for plan sponsors regarding the reasonableness of fees associated with qualified retirement plans. As plan fiduciaries, it is crucial that you determine if the costs associated with employer sponsored retirement plans are reasonable. A truly objective and high quality peer group comparison is the most efficient and comprehensive approach for this responsibility. From this type of evaluation, you will clarify the value received by a plan sponsor with respect to their retirement plan. The Lifetime Companies retirement professionals, through the LPL Financial Retirement Plan Consulting Program, have access to tools developed in partnership with the Center for Fiduciary Management and Fiduciary Benchmarks Inc. to create a procedure and output that makes this process seamless and scalable.
Fee and Analysis Evaluation: Fiduciary Benchmarks
The LPL Financial Fee Comparison and Analysis Evaluation, powered by peer group data from Fiduciary Benchmarks, will allow you to quickly and simply compare plan fees along with value and design complexity, against an appropriate peer group. The report is compiled in a format that plan sponsors can quickly read and understand and is integrated within the Toolset. This allows us to efficiently leverage plan data already entered into the system.
How it Works
The Fee Comparison and Analysis Evaluation uses your existing plan data within the Fiduciary Monitoring System, combined with additional relevant statistics to create a comprehensive fee analysis report covering:
- Investment management fees
- Recordkeeping fees
- Advisor/Consultant fees
- Total plan fees
- Plan benefits and features
Benefits to Employers
- Comprehensive analysis to help understand a plan's fees that provides a record to verify due diligence
- Easy to read format
- Clear understanding of plan value compared with pertinent peer groups
Request for Proposal Services
RFP Services Simplified
The LPL Financial advisors that work for The Lifetime Companies, utilizing LPL Financial tools, can conduct a robust search among well-known retirement plan services providers on the market (specific to the plan size). Our RFP process consists of four steps, which can take up to three weeks to complete, depending on the plan's complexity and communication efforts. The steps are:
- Initial meeting to gather plan specific information, evaluate the current plan, and gather what you, the client, hope to accomplish through the RFP.
- Electronically notify potential plan providers of the RFP process and simultaneously send them information regarding the current plan.
- Gather provider proposals and narrow down the number of proposals to a couple qualifying providers.
- Facilitate finalist meetings for the client and assist with the selection process.
To request an RFP, please complete the form below: