Our Ascension Wealth Advisor Retirement Plan Consulting team provides clients with unparalleled service and retirement expertise.
We focus on three key points when providing consulting services to retirement plans:
- Independence: We provide strategies based on the client’s needs, not on the provider’s. We have the ability to work with any retirement plan company in the country.
- Support: Our support is designed to protect plan fiduciaries against personal loss.
- Outcomes: Our primary function and responsibility as a retirement plan fiduciary and advisor is to provide participants with the best possible retirement outcome. All of our services are designed with that goal in mind.
The services we provide generally fall into four categories:
- Protection for fiduciaries
- Plan sponsor investment support
- Enhancement of plan compliance and efficiency
- Maximizing participant benefits
Fiduciary Service Details
Fiduciary Compliance Oversight
We act as co-fiduciary as an investment adviser with the Plan Sponsor or investment committee such as a benefits or investment committee. We will provide ongoing fiduciary compliance services and conduct periodic meetings with the Plan Sponsor or investment committee to provide fiduciary advice.
Investment Policy Statement Review
We review, evaluate, and if necessary, create or revise the investment policy statement for adoption by the Plan Sponsor or investment committee.
Modern Portfolio Construction
We recommend model portfolios consistent with your Plan’s investment policy statement, determine whether a portfolio’s asset allocation has deviated from its model, and recommend, as needed, how the Plan Sponsor or investment committee should reallocate those investments to rebalance the allocation.
Investment Alternative Analysis
We review the current investment alternatives under the Plan for consistency with the Plan’s investment policy statement and recommend changes, if necessary, to current investment alternatives available under the Plan. We will also recommend removing underperforming investment alternatives and conduct searches for additional investment alternatives as needed. We will further analyze the performance of the investment alternatives regularly, and provide the Plan Sponsor or investment committee with reports comparing the investment performance of the investment alternatives against the appropriate benchmarks
Vendor Search and Analysis
We conduct vendor searches and benchmarking; Initial and ongoing needs analysis; Request for Proposal (RFP) completion; analysis of recordkeeping, administration, technology services, plan compliance, employee communications, and investment management services offered by each vendor; cost analysis; fee negotiation; and conversion assistance.
