Retirement Plan Fee Transparency Scorecard

Plan Administration Fees

1. Do you know how much the plan is being charged for plan administration?YES / NO
2. Do you know if the plan sponsor or the participants are paying the plan administration fees?YES / NO
3. If the fees are being charged to the participants, are they aware they are paying these fees?YES / NO

Plan Investment Management Fees

4. Do you know how much is being charged for investment management on the plan?YES / NO
5. Do you know if the investment management fee is a sales charge, or a management fee?YES / NO
6. Do you know if it is a separate charge or built into the fund management expense?YES / NO
7. Do you know if you are being charged a bundled, or wrap fee for plan services? 
     If so do you know what that fee is?		YES / NO
8. Do you know if the plan sponsor or the participants are paying the investment management
fees?		YES / NO
9. Do you know if the fees for Individual Services, (such as loans or distributions) are paid by 
the participants or the plan sponsor?		YES / NO
10. If the fees are being charged to the participants, are they aware they are paying these fees?YES / NO

Investment Fees

11. Do you know if the underlying fund management expense for the available investments are reasonable when compared to their category averages?YES / NO
12. Do you know if your plan offers both actively managed (generally higher management fees) and passively managed (generally lower management fees) options for the participants to choose from?YES / NO

13. Do you know if your plan is a group variable annuity contract? 

 - If so, do you know if there is an additional fee for mortality risk charges, and the cost of issuing and administering the contract?
- If so, do you know if your contract has surrender or transfer fees?

 

YES / NO

Ongoing Review and Due Diligence

14. Are you monitoring plan fees and expenses on a regular basis?YES / NO
15. Have you had an outside review of your plan performed in the last 3-5 years?YES / NO

TOTAL _______ ________ YES NO

Scoring

If you answer “YES” to 12 or more of the questions, you probably have a have a good understanding of the fees in your plan. We recommend you brush up on the areas where you answered “NO.”

If you answer “YES” to 11 or less you should have your plan reviewed so you become more familiar with the fees and expenses paid on your plan and understand who those expenses are being paid by.

If you answer “YES” to 8 or less you NEED to have your plan reviewed, and we recommend you also review the fiduciary responsibility you have as the plan sponsor.