Services
Since 2004, Fiduciary Firewall has offered a complete range of independent fiduciary services that save companies time and money while simultaneously reducing risk and improving employee wellbeing. This is accomplished through a transparent process that identifies and eliminates hidden and excessive fees, properly manages fiduciary risk and conflicts of interest, and optimizes plan performance and participant investment behavior.
In addition to the comprehensive Total Fiduciary Solution℠, we offer targeted project-specific services designed to address specific fiduciary compliance needs.
Flagship Service
A single-point-of-contact plan services and risk management solution that saves employers time and money, while improving retirement outcomes for plan participants.
The Total Fiduciary Solution℠ allows plan sponsors to outsource nearly all of the day-to-day plan management responsibilities and fiduciary liability associated with their qualified retirement plan. It reduces the commitment of time by management and clerical staff for the day-to-day management of the plan — saving money as well as reducing the risk of fiduciary violations resulting from unintentional clerical oversights. Our high-touch participant service model ultimately improves the quality of plan performance and retirement preparedness for participants.
Delivered as a single-point-of-contact solution, the Total Fiduciary Solution℠ installs a fully integrated suite of four fiduciary services:
An investment adviser appointed to assume discretionary authority and full fiduciary responsibility for all investment decisions regarding plan assets and investment options. This is the “gold standard” and relieves plan fiduciaries of nearly all investment-related liability.
An investment adviser engaged to provide plan participants with personalized, detailed, and objective investment advice and financial planning services under a fiduciary standard of care. One-on-one enrollment and worksite service visits are included. Five risk-based managed asset allocation model portfolios are provided as distinct investment options in the plan at no extra charge to participants or the plan.
An administrator appointed to assume full functional responsibility and fiduciary liability for the day-to-day operations of the plan. This includes the approval of loans, distribution of funds, maintenance of records, notification of eligibility, distribution of required notices, preparation of the annual Form 5500, and coordination of the annual plan audit.
A certified professional fiduciary who assumes responsibility and liability for ensuring that the fiduciary obligations related to the plan are fully executed and properly documented. This includes the development and maintenance of an audit-ready and litigation-ready fiduciary file documenting all proactive fiduciary risk management and compliance functions executed on behalf of the plan.
Fees
Fiduciary Firewall charges an annual flat-dollar fee — not a percentage of assets. This fee is guaranteed to remain level for three years. Revenue sharing and pay-to-play arrangements with plan investments or any other service providers are expressly prohibited by contract.
Limitation of Scope: While the Fiduciary Firewall℠ insulates plan fiduciaries from fiduciary liability and risk to the greatest extent possible, it does not absolve them of their residual duty of surveillance and oversight. This obligation can be fulfilled by attending trustee meetings to receive reports and ask questions, and by relying on the ISO-based third-party certification provided by CEFEX.
Get in touch →Project Services
Targeted services designed to address specific fiduciary compliance needs.
Fee Benchmarking
A fee audit, analysis, and benchmarking study that fulfills an employer’s ongoing ERISA obligations regarding plan fee oversight.
FeeInsight℠ is a comprehensive fee audit and analysis designed to help plan sponsors fulfill their ongoing obligations under ERISA §408(b)(2) to document and monitor total plan fees.
FeeInsight℠ compares plan fees and service provider compensation against the average paid by similar-sized plans in the same industry. In addition to peer group benchmarking, total plan fees are compared against the absolute baseline internal fiduciary cost of plan operations — a dollar-based, cost-plus analysis of the services currently being provided to the plan.
Findings are issued along with a written opinion letter regarding the reasonableness of plan fees — providing plan fiduciaries with a documented, defensible record of their fee oversight process.
Get in touch →Compliance Assessment
A formal fiduciary assessment of a plan’s operations, investments, and governance that serves as a Department of Labor audit simulation.
FiduciaryInsight℠ is a 141-point ISO-style conformance assessment that integrates the formal standards and practices defined by the Center for Fiduciary Studies, DOL audit protocols, and fiduciary best practices. The assessment evaluates the plan’s operations, investments, and governance across every major area of ERISA fiduciary compliance.
FiduciaryInsight℠ identifies shortfalls and provides specific recommendations for needed corrections — giving plan sponsors and their advisors a clear picture of where the plan stands and what steps are required to bring it into full compliance before a DOL examination occurs.
Get in touch →Plan Certification
Independent certification of a retirement plan’s fiduciary compliance processes and controls.
Fiduciary Firewall provides plan certification services for retirement plans seeking independent verification of their fiduciary compliance status. Drawing on the same ISO-based framework used in Fiduciary Firewall’s own CEFEX-certified processes, plan certification assesses whether the plan’s policies, procedures, and governance practices conform to the defined standards established by fi360 and the Center for Fiduciary Studies.
Plan certification provides plan sponsors, trustees, and their advisors with a documented, third-party record of the plan’s compliance posture — a meaningful line of defense in the event of a DOL audit or participant litigation.
Get in touch →VFCP Filing
Independent fiduciary opinions supporting Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program filings and prohibited transaction exemptions.
The Department of Labor’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) allows plan sponsors to self-correct certain prohibited transactions and fiduciary violations before they become the subject of a DOL investigation. In many cases, a VFCP filing requires or benefits from a letter from an independent fiduciary confirming that the proposed correction is reasonable and in the best interest of plan participants.
Fiduciary Firewall provides independent fiduciary letters in support of VFCP filings and related prohibited transaction exemptions. These letters are prepared by a CEFEX-certified fiduciary with direct experience guiding plans through DOL examinations, and are designed to satisfy the independent fiduciary requirements set forth in DOL guidance.
Get in touch →Project Consulting
Project-specific fiduciary consulting for plan sponsors, advisors, and their legal and accounting teams.
Not every engagement requires a full installation of the Total Fiduciary Solution℠. Fiduciary Firewall offers limited-scope consulting engagements to assist plan sponsors, plan committees, attorneys, and CPAs with specific fiduciary issues, compliance questions, or plan design challenges.
Engagements may include investment policy statement development and review, plan design analysis, fiduciary process documentation, service provider evaluation and selection, DOL audit preparation, and related advisory services. Each engagement is scoped to the specific needs of the plan and priced accordingly.
Get in touch →Fiduciary Education
Fiduciary education for plan sponsors, trustees, committee members, and the professionals who advise them.
Plan fiduciaries are personally liable for decisions made on behalf of a retirement plan — whether or not they understood, at the time, that they were acting in a fiduciary capacity. Fiduciary Firewall provides training programs designed to ensure that plan sponsors, trustees, and committee members understand their obligations, the standards to which they are held, and the processes required to meet them.
Training is also available for CPAs, attorneys, and other professionals who advise plan sponsors on ERISA matters. Content is grounded in the standards established by fi360 and the Center for Fiduciary Studies and draws on Fiduciary Firewall’s direct experience with DOL examinations and fiduciary compliance assessments.
Training engagements are available as standalone sessions or as part of a broader consulting relationship.
Get in touch →Whether you’re a business owner evaluating your plan for the first time or an attorney looking for an independent fiduciary opinion, we’re here.
Get in touch