Articles
Building a Secure Retirement: The Confluence 401(k) Service Structure
Whether you are a business owner offering a retirement plan to your employees or are an employee participating in a company sponsored retirement plan, managing the benefit & saving for retirement both can feel like an isolating process. Too often we see a lack of guidance or knowledge from financial advisors to be able to serve as a resource to the company or its employees.
Confluence understands these challenges with a dedicated team of financial advisors collaborating with employee retirement plans. We have built a comprehensive 401(k) service structure – Confluence Standard of Care, designed to offer peace of mind to the employer, while supporting employees to make informed decisions to reach their financial & retirement goals.
Our 401(k) Standard of Care service structure centers on four key pillars:
- Personalized Employer Review Meetings: “One size fits all” does not work when it comes to 401(k) plans. Through regularly scheduled meetings, we collaborate with employers to monitor the employer plan to make sure it continues to fit the company’s needs and goals.
During these meetings we will discuss the following topics:
- Plan investment analysis: considering the quantitative and qualitative results to ensure we have skillful managers in place.
- Courageous plan design: striving to increase an employer’s benefits return on investment while striving to enhance participant retirement outcomes.
- Fee benchmarking: every 3 years we lead an RFP driven process to ensure apple-to-apple comparisons and to help maximize a plan’s negotiating leverage.
- Fiduciary guidance: to support the employer and mitigate potential liabilities.
2. Employee engagement: Our education team uses highly customized plan participant content structured to help optimize outcomes and increase financial wellness. We deliver multiple types of meetings throughout the year. These meetings run the spectrum from group education to 1on1 individual consultations, and life stage education designed to meet the employee at their individual career stage.
3. Regular investment monitoring & investment analysis: As a member of the Retirement Plan Advisor Group (RPAG), we have access to their proprietary fund ranking system that aims to enhance outcomes, manage risks, and reduce fiduciary exposure. Employers receive quarterly plan “report cards” detailing investments scores. In addition to the fund scores, Confluence has an internal Investment Advisor Committee that provides guidance on selected investment managers and incorporates a qualitative layer of oversight to the fund analysis programs used.
4. Ongoing communication & support: In addition to the processes outlined above, we deliver a variety of additional touchpoints designed to keep employers and participants informed and engaged. This includes informative webinars, quarterly newsletters, and campaigns to address specific plan demographics or concerns.
By utilizing these services, employers can have the confidence in knowing their 401(k) is managed effectively while employees have the opportunity to understand their benefits options.
Our team is here to guide you every step of the way. Should you have any questions or require further information on how our service delivery model can benefit your organization, please do not hesitate to contact us or listen to our podcasts today!
Confluence Wealth Services, Inc. d/b/a Confluence Financial Partners is a SEC-registered investment adviser. Confluence Financial Partners only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or notice filed or excluded or exempted from registration requirements. The security of electronic mail sent through the Internet is not guaranteed. All email sent to or from this address will be received or otherwise recorded by the Confluence Financial Partners corporate email system and is subject to archival, monitoring and/or review, by and/or disclosure to, someone other than the recipient. Confluence Financial Partners recommends you do not send confidential information to us via electronic mail, including social security numbers, account numbers, and personal identification numbers, unless properly encrypted. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees continues to remain available for your review upon request or by visiting the following link:https://www.confluencefp.com/form-adv-2a/
