Fiduciary Alert -- Another Year End: Global Fiduciary Advisors, LLC offers Steps for Retirement Plan Sponsors to Take to Ensure ERISA Compliance and Avoid Unnecessary Litigation at Year End.

Global Fiduciary Advisors, LLC, one of the nations few independent Fiduciary Consulting companies, is dedicated to helping employers avoid becoming a retirement plan statistic. According to Robert Bent, President, This has been an active year for retirement plan fiduciaries but companies can prepare now for a smooth 2005."

Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) December 22, 2004 -- Global Fiduciary Advisors, LLC, one of the nations few independent Fiduciary Consulting companies, is dedicated to helping employers avoid becoming a retirement plan statistic. According to Robert Bent, President, This has been an active year for retirement plan fiduciaries but companies can prepare now for a smooth 2005."

A year of scandals and investigations has brought on a new wave of litigation against retirement plan sponsors, fiduciaries and service providers. Traditionally the most significant challenges that plan fiduciaries had to face was how to offer attractive benefits to their employees in the most cost effective manner. Today plan fiduciaries must maneuver their way through the minefield of ERISA litigation and not be innocently caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Increased demands have been placed on fiduciaries for more participant education and communications, stronger governance procedures, and greater scrutiny over the service and investment providers they have engaged.

Mr. Bent stated that there are several steps that companies and plan providers should be performing. His company has outlined the following as important reviews to be performed.

• Prepare and review a report card for each of your investment fund managers, administration providers and external consultants. Rate them on the quality, timeliness and cost efficiency of the services they provide to you and your employees. In addition, rate them on how well you think they will be able to meet the challenges your organization may face in the upcoming year.

Special consideration should be made if you have any providers that were or are the subject of a governmental investigation, review or litigation. A useful tool in gathering information to start this process is Morningstars Funds Industry Investigation Update" which is contained in the Funds" section of www.morningstar.com. At a minimum you should forward a letter requesting the provider to detail how the circumstances under investigation have or will impact your company and your plan participants. Also obtain supplemental independent information from third parties. A careful review of the vendors response and third party information is essential.

• Review each of your investment funds. A past, present and future" approach should be taken in reviewing the investment funds. In other words, review the funds past performance against the investment benchmarks you have established. Review the present or current investment style, manager turnover and status of any investigations or charges of wrongdoing and evaluate the potential impact they will have on future performance. Place underperforming or questionable investment funds on your watch list and, depending on the severity of the situation, consider replacing any fund that remains on your watch list for two consecutive quarters. This is also a good time to review and update your plans investment policy statement.

• Review all fee schedules and solicit competitive bids if necessary. Pay close attention to evaluating the level of participant absorbed fees and their impact on participant investment rates of return.

• Verify that your payroll provider has implemented the 2005 increases in contribution limits and ensure that you have controls in place to guarantee that the remittance of participant contributions to the plan are made within the required timeframe.

• Verify that you have engaged resources to perform the necessary compliance tasks including, but not limited to IRS Form 5500 filing, plan audits (if required) and nondiscrimination testing.

Mr. Bent strongly urges companies to perform these reviews and states, A major component to all of this is to document your activities. If the task appears too daunting, a fiduciary consultant will be able to help."

As a matter of fact, more and more companies are turning to consultants to ensure plan compliance. Global Fiduciary Advisors has designed a thorough process to assist employers in creating an effective fiduciary oversight process. Global Fiduciary Advisors is one of the few firms to offer this expertise for both domestic and international plans. They also assist employers with plan design, communications, investment performance monitoring, vendor selection and evaluation.

To request a complimentary copy of Global Fiduciary Advisors quarterly Fiduciary newsletter or for more information about how Global Fiduciary Advisors can help your company, call (800) 892-2218 or visit their website at www.globalfiduciaryadvisors.com.

# # #