Secrets of 401(k) Success: Investment Advisor

The investment advisor is one of the key factors in the success of any 401(k) plan. The advisor should work with you in developing investment options for your employee participants. Ideally, these options should be the lowest share class and benchmarked against their peer groups.

The advisor should also help your employees achieve their retirement goals by offering participant education and information that will assist them in determining contribution amounts, investment strategy, and thinking about their personal situation in making decisions.

Here’s what a good investment advisor can do for you

Consult on plan design—With so many options available, it can be difficult to decide what type of plan is best for your business. An investment advisor will walk you through your options to help design a plan that’s right for you and your employees.
Maintain compliance—Your plan needs to stay in compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and other Department of Labor and IRS rules. An investment advisor will act as a fiduciary to take on plan administration and file the IRS Form 5500.
Provide reliable plan management—An investment advisor can provide you with reliable and accurate plan management that ensures you and your employees will be able to save for a financially secure retirement. This includes researching and recommending low-cost fund options and selecting, monitoring, and optimizing the plan’s fund lineup.
Ensure you and your employees stay on track—With a 401(k), you have goals for your business and your employees have their own personal retirement goals. Your investment advisor can help you make the right choices to accomplish both.
Save time—Even if you have the expertise to manage your 401(k) plan, you probably don’t have time to do all that and run your business. Your investment advisor can take that responsibility off your plate and ensure your employees get their questions answered and the paperwork gets completed on time.
Provide knowledgeable support—Your investment advisor can be the single point of contact for both you and your employees. When complicated questions arise, you’ll know exactly where to get the answers.
Educate your employees—Educating your employees about their 401(k) options and giving them financial advice are two very different things, and the line between the two can easily become blurred. Being able to direct them to an impassive third-party investment advisor helps you avoid potential compliance issues and liabilities.

Talk to an experienced advisor

Implementing a successful retirement plan for your employees can help you attract and retain the brightest and best employees. And it helps them build their personal retirement wealth.

To discover all the benefits of offering a 401(k) plan, contact Apollo Wealth Management at Billo@apollowm.com or 716-783-1610 to find out more.