NEPC assists a wide variety of defined contribution and deferred compensation plans in the Corporate, Public, Non-Profit, and Taft-Hartley markets to help meet their fiduciary obligations as outlined by ERISA and the Department of Labor. We have been consulting to various types of defined contribution plans since 1987. We partner with our clients, as a fiduciary, to maximize the effectiveness of plans, control the plan sponsor risks associated with operating plans, and help deliver the benefits intended with minimized costs.
We assist in designing overall defined contribution programs that are competitive with industry peer groups, including benchmarking our clients' programs to industry standards. We also help our clients maintain a line-up of investment options that meet or exceed benchmarks and peer groups that are defined in an investment policy we help create.
NEPC offers a full line of investment consulting services which include:
- Assisting our clients establish plan guidelines and investment policy, as well as reviewing these policies ongoing;
- Service provider and investment manager searches;
- Review of record keeping and administration service providers to ensure timeliness and accuracy;
- Review of investment options to ensure consistency of the investment process and that options meet or exceed stated benchmarks and peer groups;
- Review of education and communications strategies to ensure the maximum benefit to all employees and potential participants; and,
- Fee analysis to ensure the best cost/benefit relationship.
We seek to improve trustee effectiveness through educational programs, and the presentation of both traditional and non-traditional solutions. We help Trustees develop a better understanding of plan design and how certain designs can lead to more effective programs. Importantly, we challenge the status quo in plan design to better understand participant behavior and help participants reach a secure retirement.
We work with our clients to understand:
- Roles and responsibilities with respect to the plan;
- How to build employee satisfaction with the plan;
- New administration technologies and investment opportunities appropriate to DC investors;
- How to evaluate and benchmark total plan costs;
- When and how to rebid administration and investment services;
- Whether and how to design plan-specific investment strategies (such as lifestyle or lifecycle funds); and,
- How to evaluate the governance of the plan – to identify whether the client, the administrator, the investment manager(s), and consultants are doing a good job.
Defined contribution is the dominant model for future pension provision and these plans do not run themselves. We believe that organizations can only ensure that they are meeting their fiduciary responsibilities by taking independent, expert advice about the investments, administration, communications and governance of their plan.
For more information on defined contribution consulting, please contact:
Steven F. Charlton, CFA
Managing Partner
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