CHALK 401(k) Advisory Board will work everyday to help retirement plan assets grow prudently.

401(k) Vendor Search Question Template

You find yourself responsible for "gathering the information" from prospective
401(k) vendors.

You are interested in leveling the playing field for all vendors bidding on your
401(k) business...so that you can make an informed decision.

Your best bet, to assembling as much information as possible, in the shortest amount of time possible, may be to take advantage of the Vendor Search Template. This template includes over 200 questions that will provide you with over 250 pieces of data, that will elevate your data gathering skills to a new level. This is a critical factor when making a major purchase (asking the right questions.) Using the Template will increase the odds, that you are asking the same questions used by a professional 401(k) search firm. You will still have plenty of work in assembling, formatting and analyzing the data, but you will never get the responses, if you do not ask the questions.

Investment Monitoring Services

One area where most 401(k) Plan Sponsors and Trustees fail to serve their plan participants is in the area of Monitoring and Evaluating investment performance. CHALK 401(k) Advisory Board can serve you by producing relative and absolute performance reports to you on a quarterly basis. These reports, targeted to the funds your plan offers, will provide you with an unbiased view of how your investments have performed.

Statement of Investment Policy Template

Make your plan operate as it was intended. The Statement of Investment Policy is your tool that could provide an early warning as it relates to your plan investments, managers or employee communications. If you think that the Statement of Investment Policy is not important, check with your ERISA counsel. This document provides you with a starting point for you to draft your 401(k) plan's Statement of Investment Policy. Without a Statement of investment Policy, you have no methodology for monitoring and Evaluating your vendor.

Fee Component Analysis

Review of current fees associated with your existing plan and compares your plan with national averages. This service also provides projections of your fee growth based upon your vendor's pricing and company growth projections and demographics.

Fee Sharing Analysis

Review of the data from your existing plan to provide you with a quantifiable number that can be used to measure the fee-distribution elements associated with your current plan, vendor and participants.

Vendor Analysis Reports

Provides the Plan Sponsor with a tabular report which includes important decision-making-criteria concerning Recordkeeping, Administration, Investments and Employee Education.

Education Analysis

Is your Employee Education satisfying the requirements of your Employees? Does it satisfy the requirements of 404(c)? How you communicate is as important as the Investment Performance -- how do you currently monitor and evaluate the Education?

Original Research

Past research has included Participation Motivation, Education Analysis and Employee Comprehension.

Executive Education

Many companies are in a position of not employing a full-time 401(k) administrator in-house. Our Executive Education session will remain unbiased and experienced with standard and new 401(k) Plan issues.

Prepared Presentation Topics

• How to Conduct an OBJECTIVE 401(k) Search
• What Should we Measure at the Plan Level?
• Employee Communications for the Plan Sponsor
• Fees -- Who Pays the Fees Anyway?
• How to evaluate 401(k) Products & Services
• 401(k) Plans -- The Big Picture

Click Here to contact us.