Blog
April 2, 2018
Recordkeeping 101: FAQ’s About Recordkeepers
As discussed in our last blog article, there are many people who work behind the scenes to help manage a 401(k) plan. There’s the Investment Advisor, Third Party Administrator (Benefit Equity, Inc.), mutual fund companies, and a recordkeeper, (insurance company or investment company).
The 401(k) recordkeeper is the investment custodian who buys and sells the mutual funds as directed by plan participant’s. In this role they account for the buying and selling of the funds, the contributions to the plan and the distributions to terminated employees. They are the bookkeeper for 401(k) plan. They also provide enrollment materials, participant disclosures, online access of account information and retirement planning tutorials.
What else should you know about recordkeepers? Here are a few frequently asked questions we get about the role of the recordkeeper.
What fees does a recordkeeper charge?
Recordkeepers will either charge an asset based fee of between .30% to .60% or a flat fee that generally includes a base fee with an additional fee per participant. This will be paid either by the employer or directly from the participant accounts. Generally, the more money you have in the plan the lower the recordkeeping fee.
What are the different types of retirement plan recordkeepers?
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Mutual Fund Companies: They manage investments but also have a side recordkeeping business.
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Payroll Companies: In addition to payroll services they provide recordkeeping for 401k’s. Their value proposition is that since they maintain your payroll you do not have to send them employee deferral information each pay day. Paychex and ADP are examples of payroll companies providing recordkeeping services.
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Insurance Companies: Similar to fund companies, insurance companies sell investments, and also provides 401(k) recordkeeping services. These recordkeepers also make up some of the largest platforms in the country, including: Nationwide, John Hancock, Transamerica, Mass Mutual, Voya and Prudential.
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Independent Recordkeeper: This company doesn’t sell funds, or have additional payroll products. They are pure recordkeepers. In so much as they are generally not a brand name fund company or insurance company they are not very prevalent in the market place, but they are up and coming. The financial advisor, usually a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) pairs them with mutual funds and ETFs for the employer. This means they can choose from any mutual fund company and, therefore; not limited to the offerings of a single mutual fund or what an insurance company is offering. They are cost effective for plans with over a million dollars.
BEI in conjunction with financial advisors are constantly benchmarking and reviewing recordkeepers. If you want to know whether your current recordkeeper is right for you or want to learn more about how we work with recordkeepers, email us at clong@benefitequity.com or call 800-899-9141.
Robert Gorelick, APA, Founder Benefit Equity Inc.