Case Studies Testimonials Participant Comments

Case Studies

Private company had not benchmarked fees since hiring vendor many years before…

Publicly traded company with over $100 million and 5,000 employees engaged in a number of M&A activities and desired to merge plans…

A publicly traded company has over 7,000 employees in retail stores throughout the United States.

A publicly traded company desired a full plan review in light of a number of administrative and service issues.

A large company determined that a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the consideration of a new plan provider was appropriate…

A banking entity with approximately $40 million desired to evaluate their defined benefit plan which appeared…

FEE BENCHMARKING

Private company had not benchmarked fees since hiring vendor many years before – fee transparency benchmarking showed that for a company with assets of $10 million and 150 participants their costs were excessive and services lacking. Solution included an updated plan designed to better attract and retain employees, greater outsourcing of retirement services, an open fund platform and lower plan costs.

Public company with over $800 million and 10,000 employees wished to benchmark their fees in light of contract expiration. Their Board of Directors was not sure they could save any money. Their solution indicated a minimal savings of over $1 million and their final savings was over $3 million.

MERGER AND ACQUISITION ACTIVITY

Publicly traded company with over $100 million and 5,000 employees engaged in a number of M&A activities and desired to merge plans offering the best of each plan on the most appropriate platform. Solution brought great enthusiastic response from all employees as services were upgraded, investments improved and at lower costs to the participants and the plan sponsor.

Private company with foreign ownership had an aggressive M&A schedule, purchasing a new entity almost monthly. They needed timely confidential plan reviews prior to purchases, as well as a full understanding of plan design, comparative differences and liability issues surrounding these acquisitions. Plan comparatives are delivered in less than 24 hours and solutions included the merging of over 12 companies in a single year with an extremely positive participant feedback.

TESTING ISSUES

A publicly traded company has over 7,000 employees in retail stores throughout the United States. They have a large turnover of many entry level positions and their plan continually fails ADP/ACP testing. The plan design solution provided a matching formula allowing all Highly Compensated Employees to fully participate to their maximum while outsourcing more administrative services at a lower cost.

LACK OF PARTICIPATION

A publicly traded company desired a full plan review in light of a number of administrative and service issues. They were concerned by lack of participation by their employees. Their solution included in-person education at all locations which resulted in greater diversification of plan assets, a 35% increase in participation and a dramatic increase in deferral percentages.

RFP EXECUTION

A large company determined that a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the consideration of a new plan provider was appropriate and they proceeded to execute this through their in-house procurement department and their Human Resource/Benefit groups. They determined that the depth of knowledge of the committee to evaluate the responses lacked the experience needed to complete the task. Their solution not only provided the documented process to lessen their liabilities, but our involvement substantially reduced the original RFP costs.

DEFINED BENEFIT VISIBILITY

A banking entity with approximately $40 million desired to evaluate their defined benefit plan which appeared to the Board as a burdensome expensive plan. Not only did this benefit prove to be challenging for budgeting purposes, it did not seem that their employees appreciated the plan as much as the 401(k). Their solution included the redesigning of both plans on a Total Retirement Outsourcing platform providing great visibility of their total benefit package at much lower cost.