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Why Consider Fees?
Plan fees and expenses are extremely important considerations
for all types of retirement plans. As a Plan Fiduciary,
you have an obligation under ERISA to prudently select
and monitor plan investments as a "Prudent Experts"
all investment options made available to the plan's participants
and beneficiaries and the persons providing services to
your plan. Understanding and evaluating plan fees and
expenses associated with plan investments, investment
options are an important part of a fiduciary's responsibility.
This responsibility is ongoing. After careful evaluation
during the initial selection, you will want to monitor
plan fees and expenses to determine whether they continue
to be reasonable in light of the services provided year
after year.
The following is an excerpt from the publication "Understanding
Retirement Plan Fees And Expenses", published by
the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security
Administration:
The Department of Labor is continuing to focus
on plan fees and expenses. As a result, if your plan
is investigated by the DOL, they will look at the expenses
being paid by your plan, both directly and through investments.
Since Fiduciaries have a duty to know the fees being
paid and to understand both the amount of those fees
and the services being received for those fees, ignorance
and/or lack of effort are tantamount to breach of Fiduciary
Duty.
As a plan sponsor, you should have information in your
files that shows an investigation of fees and costs, as
well as an analysis or comparison to what is generally
available in the marketplace. At Blue Water Capital Management, L.L.C.,
we believe that without this information, you cannot show
that your plan has been managed prudently. There are many
hidden fees, revenue sharing relationships, fee-offsets
etc. that makes it a full time job to be able to make
apples to apples comparisons with other plan proposals.
Blue Water Capital Management, L.L.C. can help you evaluate
your plan options and since all of our fees and plan expenses
are completely disclosed with no smoke and mirrors, it
is a process that can easily be done. For a confidential
discussion on your fiduciary responsibilities, call us
at (858) 547-1810.
(click here for more information)
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