ABOUT US
The Challenge and Opportunity
ABOUT US
The Challenge and Opportunity
The Challenge
What are the biggest challenges that investment committees face? There are a lot of them, including many for which they have personal liability.
The Opportunity
The complexity of retirement plans is overwhelming companies’ ability to manage them. Prior to ERISA, pension plans were typically funded by simple annuity contracts. Today, retirement is a $29 trillion industry.
The growth is propelled by a widening range of investment products, from basic index funds to increasingly sophisticated financial vehicles, all supported by a vast ecosystem of specialized players. Mutual fund companies, investment managers, hedge funds, private equity funds, consultants, trust banks, custodians, record keepers, administrators, and lawyers all play unique roles which fuel this system.
The more financial services companies innovate, the more complex retirement instruments become. The differences are in fine print, and the fees are buried in byzantine structures. Unchecked over time, these fees can eat into the growth of many Americans’ retirement savings.
Companies try to manage retirement plans with fiduciary committees comprised largely of C-level executives. Their best intentions and efforts can’t solve the underlying problem because it’s too specialized, intricate, and dynamic. Unwittingly, this distraction of senior executives’ time ends up compromising the very operational efficiencies that enable companies to meet their fiduciary responsibilities.
Increasingly, the slightest misstep puts a fiduciary committee in the crosshairs of an army of litigators. Litigation can sully a plan sponsors reputation and trigger employee dissatisfaction.
As fiduciaries, we assume financial responsibility by design. Plus, by limiting our business model solely to offering independent fiduciary services, we are free from any conflicts of interest. Consultants and fund managers rarely can make that claim.
Fact is, we are the only ones who do exactly what we do, and we love it.
OUR VISION
Financial wellness starts with fiduciary wellness.
Your fiduciary responsibilities advance your colleagues’ long-term financial wellness. But their financial wellness is predicated on your fiduciary best practices. Our fiduciary expertise can empower plan participants to work towards their financial goals, while easing the fiduciary burdens that you shoulder. That lets you focus on your bottom line.
Our model is straightforward: We follow disciplined procedures in applying quantitative analytics to data.
David Nolan, Director of Investment & Research