Sample Excerpt: Tri-Fold Brochure for Sheffield Investment Management

Front Cover Headline/Subhead:

Expert Consulting in Retirement Plan Fiduciary Issues…

Minus the Conflicts of Interest.

 

Enhance ERISA Compliance

Reduce Potential Liability

Minimize Potential Lawsuits

Improve Portfolio Structure

 

 

First Inside Spread Copy:

ERISA Compliance Is Serious Business…

 One Noted Industry Consultant Observed:

 

“…employers find themselves facing increasing risk of liability for providing poorly managed, overcharged, and under-serviced 401 (k) plans to their employees.” 

 

You’re the fiduciary for your company’s employee retirement plan, but have you got a handle on all your ERISA-mandated duties and responsibilities for the “prudent” operation of your plan?

 

How are you choosing your investment mix? Does your Investment Policy Statement (IPS) cover all appropriate issues? (Hint: It’s one of the first things DOL auditors and plaintiffs’ attorneys ask to see.) Do you know what your costs are, relative to industry norms? Have you established investment monitoring procedures and a process for replacing poorly performing investments or managers?

 

“The plaintiff’s bar for ERISA lawsuits is busier than ever and plan sponsors are worried. Recent surveys have shown that reducing fiduciary risk and limiting exposure to lawsuits topped the list as priorities for most plan sponsors.”

Olena Berg Lacy, Frmr. Asst. Secretary of Labor

Head of Pension & Welfare Benefits Administration

Noted ERISA Expert.

 

Most importantly, is your investment process free of conflicts of interest?

 

 

Second column copy:

 

“I use a product provider who handles these needs for me, including making investment recommendations….”

 

Great. But, are you certain that their advice isn’t driven by incentives to “recommend” certain products? Remember: This is precisely why ERISA makes fiduciaries responsible for selecting their plan’s investment options.  

 

(Cartoon: fox and hens looking over same set of plans, as fox says, pointing, “I think the secret doorway should go over here…”)

 

“Well, do you charge for your services? My product provider offers the same services for free…”

 

Simply put, that’s a deception. “Free” is never really free. Every service you receive is priced into your fee structure, and generally paid by the plan participants. And ERISA requires fiduciaries to know what fees they’re paying, to analyze those costs, justify them, and control them when possible.  

 

“Free” and “included” often means generic. When ERISA compliance is on the line, generic is not good enough. More importantly, as a plan fiduciary, you’re the one who’s ultimately responsible, and potentially personally liable for violating your IPS procedures. 

 

There’s a better way…   

 

 

Inside Main Spread Headline/Body Copy:

 

Fiduciary Consulting….Completely FREE…of Conflicts-of-Interest

 

As the fiduciary of your company’s employee retirement plan, you want to be a good and responsible steward. But, do you have the necessary time and requisite skills to be that “prudent expert” – as called for by ERISA – in the areas of portfolio design, investment management, and monitoring? Can you spot possible conflicts-of-interest before they turn into potential lawsuits and personal liability?

 

The principals of Fiduciary Consultants (FC) have a combined forty years experience with fiduciary issues relating to the investment process – experience that, most importantly, is 100% free of conflicts-of-interest. FC will work with you to create a framework for managing the business of your retirement plan, to ensure the prudent operation of that plan, and to do so with a focus on minimizing potential breaches of ERISA and personal liability.

 

(Cartoon: Chickens talking with a duck, over the plans, as fox peers in from other side of henhouse window, saying, “I like the fox, but I feel better keeping him outside our home.”)

 

 

(Call-to-Action)

Despite the levity above, fiduciary responsibility and ERISA compliance are no laughing matters. There’s a lot to know, a lot to monitor, and a lot on the line. Why leave it to chance when you can leave it in the hands of four-decade experts on all these issues?

 

Contact Fiduciary Consultants today for a no-obligation consultation. Peace of mind is just a phone call or mouse click away…  

 

 

END

 

Sheffield Investment Management

(Fiduciary Consulting/ERISA Compliance)

Marketing Brochure