Corporate Retirement Plan Advisory
We help to simplify complex fiduciary oversight, plan design, and employee education, by providing you with guidance and forward thinking strategies. We strive to work with companies who truly care about providing a worthwhile retirement benefit and helping employees to save more for their futures.
Our strategies aim to provide straightforward solutions and corporate protection while enhancing overall retirement success for your employees, allowing each one to achieve their financial goals.
Corporate Retirement Plan Services
- Fiduciary Oversight
- Retirement Plan Design
- Employee Education
- Investment Consulting
- Vendor Benchmarking and Search
- Defined Benefit Consulting
- 401(k) Plan Options
We help to simplify complex fiduciary oversight, plan design, and employee advice, by providing you with guidance and forward thinking strategies. We strive to work with companies who truly care about providing a worthwhile retirement benefit and helping employees to save more for their futures.
Our strategies aim to provide straightforward solutions and corporate protection while enhancing overall retirement success for your employees, allowing each one to achieve their financial goals.
Corporate Retirement Plan Services
- Fiduciary Oversight
- Retirement Plan Design
- Employee Education
- Investment Consulting
- Vendor Benchmarking and Search
- Defined Benefit Consulting
- 401(k) Plan Options
FIDUCIARY OVERSIGHT
Overseeing the implementation of a high-quality employer-sponsored retirement plan is a
significant responsibility. Your plan and processes are being observed, by various agencies and
by your employees and it is important to the protect their interests and stay within the law. How
do you measure up? As your partner, we can share this fiduciary responsibility with you, implementing a disciplined process to better manage your obligations.
Our extensive process can include:
- Plan policy development and documentation, including an Investment Policy Statement
and Committee charter - Fiduciary and Retirement Committee training and ongoing education
- Comprehensive fiduciary oversight reviews and checklists
- Meeting minutes and plan records documentation and retention
FIDUCIARY OVERSIGHT
Overseeing the implementation of a high-quality employer sponsored retirement plan is a significant responsibility. Your plan and processes are being observed, by various agencies and by your employees and it is important to the protect their interests and stay within the law. How do you measure up?
As your partner, we can share this fiduciary responsibility with you, implementing a disciplined process to better manage your obligations.
Our extensive process includes:
- Plan policy development and documentation, including an Investment Policy Statement
and Committee charter - Fiduciary and Retirement Committee training and ongoing education
- Comprehensive fiduciary oversight reviews and checklists
- Meeting minutes and plan records documentation and retention
RETIREMENT PLAN DESIGN
We take time to understand your objectives and design a retirement plan program that aims to provide your employees with the greatest value. We also aim to aid in balancing the administrative responsibilities inherent to managing a retirement plan benefit.
We can focus on these specific areas:
- Employer contribution strategies
- Evaluation of qualification and eligibility issues
- Compliance with legislative changes
- Support services to simplify plan administration
- Behavioral finance integrated plan design
- Optimal use of safe harbor, auto enrollment and auto increase provisions
RETIREMENT PLAN DESIGN
We take time to understand your objectives and design a retirement plan program that aims to provide your employees with the greatest value. We also aim to aid in balancing the administrative responsibilities inherent to managing a retirement plan benefit.
We focus on these specific areas:
- Employer contribution strategies
- Evaluation of qualification and eligibility issues
- Compliance with legislative changes
- Support services to simplify plan administration
- Behavioral finance integrated plan design
- Optimal use of safe harbor, auto enrollment and auto increase provisions
EMPLOYEE EDUCATION
What sets us most apart from the industry standard is our strong focus on providing employees
with what will help them most in the long-term: education to help them feel confident about
decisions they make in pursuing financial goals and achieving what they want in life. Of course,
retirement is an area of focus, but as independent financial advisors, we help employees
understand their bigger financial picture through promoting holistic Financial Wellness.
EMPLOYEE EDUCATION
What sets us most apart from the industry standard is our strong focus on providing employees with what will help them most in the long-term: advice to help them feel confident about decisions they make in pursuing financial goals and achieving what they want in life. Of course, retirement is an area of focus, but as independent financial advisors, we help employees understand their bigger financial picture through promoting holistic Financial Wellness.
INVESTMENT CONSULTING
Our investment process can include:
- Investment Policy Statement – We can assist you in developing a customized Investment Policy Statement (IPS) to serve as a blueprint for selecting and monitoring the plan’s investments
- Investment Selection – It’s important to construct a well-balanced investment lineup that offers broad diversification cross asset classes. We make investment recommendations based on a rigorous quantitative an qualitative evaluation process.
- Investment Marketing – We conduct quarterly investment reviews to ensure performance and expenses remain consistent with plan objectives and IPS criteria
INVESTMENT CONSULTING
What sets us most apart from the industry standard is our strong focus on providing employees with what will help them most in the long-term: advice to help them feel confident about decisions they make in pursuing financial goals and achieving what they want in life. Of course, retirement is an area of focus, but as independent financial advisors, we help employees understand their bigger financial picture through promoting holistic Financial Wellness.
Our investment process includes:
- Investment Policy Statement – We assist you in developing a customized Investment Policy Statement (IPS) to serve as a blueprint for selecting and monitoring the plan’s investments
- Investment Selection – It’s important to construct a well-balanced investment lineup that offers broad diversification cross asset classes. We make investment recommendations based on a rigorous quantitative an qualitative evaluation process.
- Investment Marketing – We conduct quarterly investment reviews to ensure performance and expenses remain consistent with plan objectives and IPS criteria
VENDOR BENCHMARKING AND SEARCH
With HighMark as your partner, if requested, we will recommend providers that most appropriately fit the specific needs of your organization and employees. We have built relationships with numerous providers that are free from proprietary complications and conflicts of interest.
Managing vendor due diligence
Our customized Request for Proposal (RFP) process includes:
- Gathering data and pricing
- Analyzing costs, services, and investment choices
- Facilitating finalist meetings
Ongoing monitoring
Once your plan is in place, you can expect:
- Monitoring of participation levels and performance
- Plan cost benchmarking and analysis against other vendors and plans
- Guidance on areas of improvement
- Target date analysis and custom target date solutions
VENDOR BENCHMARKING AND SEARCH
With HighMark as your partner, we want you to select providers that most appropriately fit the specific needs of your organization and employees. We have built relationships with countless vendors that are free from proprietary complications and conflicts of interest.
Managing vendor due diligence
Our customized Request for Proposal (RFP) process includes:
- Gathering data and pricing
- Analyzing costs, services, and investment choices
- Facilitating finalist meetings
Ongoing monitoring
Once your plan is in place, you can expect:
- Monitoring of participation levels and performance
- Plan cost benchmarking and analysis against other vendors and plans
- Guidance on areas of improvement
- Target date analysis and custom target date solutions
DEFINED BENEFIT CONSULTING
We are committed to designing and monitoring your defined benefit retirement plan so it provides maximum value for you. We can advise you on creative solutions to align the defined benefit plan with the company’s financial and overall retirement plan goals.We can help maximize the effectiveness of your defined benefit plan through:
- Investment management advice
- Administrative guidance and support
- Fiduciary advisory services
- Coordination of actuarial and compliance work
- Dynamic allocation strategies
DEFINED BENEFIT CONSULTING
We are committed to designing and monitoring your defined benefit retirement plan so it provides maximum value for you. We can advise you on creative solutions to align the defined benefit plan with the company’s financial and overall retirement plan goals.
We can help maximize the effectiveness of your defined benefit plan through:
- Investment management advice
- Administrative guidance and support
- Fiduciary advisory services
- Coordination of actuarial and compliance work
- Dynamic allocation strategies
401(k) PLAN OPTIONS
Employer MatchEmployer match is one of the most common 401(k) plan features. Simply put, employer match is where an employer matches their employee’s 401(k) contributions.
Auto Enrollment
Automatic enrollment is a 401(k) plan feature that automatically enrolls your eligible employees into your 401(k) plan and gets them started with contributing a portion of their salary at a preset rate.
Safe Harbor
A Safe Harbor 401(k) plan is a type of 401(k) with an employer match that allows you to avoid most annual compliance tests. If a 401(k) includes a Safe Harbor provision, the employer makes annual contributions on behalf of employees, and those contributions are vested immediately.
Profit Sharing Plan
Profit sharing plans are a special kind of retirement plan that allows employers to make contributions to employees' accounts based on the company's profitability. Many times, profit sharing plans are linked with 401(k) plans. Alone, profit sharing plans do not allow for employee contributions—all contributions are made by the employer—but when added to a traditional 401(k) plan, employees can also save their own money, giving them more control over their retirement savings strategy.
You don't need to have high profits to add profit sharing to your 401(k) plan. What it means is that you can add dollars to your and your employees' retirement accounts based on how your business does each year. This is purely discretionary and the amount can range from $0 up to whatever amount makes sense for your business.
Cash Balance Plans
Reduce your personal taxes. Increase your personal savings.
A Cash Balance Plan can be a good retirement savings vehicle for owners of successful businesses with steady revenue. While there are certain risks to consider, participants can expect benefits that other retirement strategies can’t offer—including significant tax reductions and accelerated savings.
401(k) PLAN OPTIONS
Employer Match
Employer match is one of the most common 401(k) plan features. Simply put, employer match is where an employer matches their employee’s 401(k) contributions.
Auto Enrollment
Automatic enrollment is a 401(k) plan feature that automatically enrolls your eligible employees into your 401(k) plan and gets them started with contributing a portion of their salary at a preset rate.
Safe Harbor
A Safe Harbor 401(k) plan is a type of 401(k) with an employer match that allows you to avoid most annual compliance tests. If a 401(k) includes a Safe Harbor provision, the employer makes annual contributions on behalf of employees, and those contributions are vested immediately.
Profit Sharing Plan
Profit sharing plans are a special kind of retirement plan that allows employers to make contributions to employees’ accounts based on the company’s profitability. Many times, profit sharing plans are linked with 401(k) plans. Alone, profit sharing plans do not allow for employee contributions—all contributions are made by the employer—but when added to a traditional
401(k) plan, employees can also save their own money, giving them more control over their retirement savings strategy.
You don’t need to have high profits to add profit sharing to your 401(k) plan. What it means is that you can add dollars to your and your employees’ retirement accounts based on how your business does each year. This is purely discretionary and the amount can range from $0 up to whatever amount makes sense for your business.
Cash Balance Plans
Reduce your personal taxes. Increase your personal savings.
A Cash Balance Plan can be a good retirement savings vehicle for owners of successful businesses with steady revenue. While there are certain risks to consider, participants can expect benefits that other retirement strategies can’t offer—including significant tax reductions and accelerated savings.
