For Fiduciaries: An Advocate In The Financial World
Taking on a fiduciary role for a retirement plan means assuring that the plan complies with the directives adopted by the plan’s oversight board as well as state and federal regulations. It also means vigorously representing the interests of the plan members who will depend on these resources in the future.
In other words the members of the plan have put their confidence in you and you need to find an objective third party you can depend on for education, advice, and counsel when you are making decisions regarding the retirement plan’s portfolio construction and fees.
Registered investment advisors (RIAs)
Our investment consultants at PMFA have the credentials to serve the needs of government retirement plans. They are registered investment advisors and will acknowledge their responsibilities as a fiduciary as described in amended Public Act 314.
Their support will enable you to meet your fiduciary duties and to make well-informed and well-educated decisions regarding the investment of the retirement plan’s assets. Our investment consultants can help you develop an investment policy statement (IPS) that clearly outlines the objectives of the plan and guidelines for achieving them.
You will appreciate their experience and advice as they walk you through decisions on issues such as how often you need to review your investments and implementation strategies. It is important that your strategies properly reflect the plan’s tolerance for risk. Our investment consultants will also monitor the rate of return of the portfolio and administrative expenses.
Monitoring the investment managers
In terms of implementing the investment policy, you can depend on them for help with asset allocation and diversification strategies as well as setting performance standards and measurements to monitor the investment managers.
What should you look for in an investment manager? If that is one of your questions, our investment advisors can help you with a due diligence search. They have access to an extensive database. PMFA’s in-house research team has developed a methodology for analyzing and evaluating investment managers that includes quantitative and qualitative factors.
Our investment consultants will be there when you need them. They will attend meetings of your oversight board if requested, prepare educational sessions on emerging topics, and draw on a range of specialists within PMFA and Plante & Moran to provide comprehensive investment consulting services for the board and members.
If you are looking for an independent consultant to help you successfully fulfill your role as a fiduciary, give our investment advisors a call and experience the peace of mind that comes with having a true advocate in the financial world.
Plante Moran Financial Advisors (PMFA) is an affiliate of Plante & Moran, one of the nation’s largest accounting, tax, and management consulting firms serving clients throughout the United States and around the globe.
Our culture encourages collaboration resulting in exceptional thinking and problem solving from a multidisciplinary team.