Estes Wealth Strategies
A Financial Partner for Your Life of Possibilities
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Corporate Retirement Plans

A Financial Partner

That Understands Your Needs

 

 
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corporate retirement plans

Taking Care of Business—with Employee Retirement Benefits

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You want to take care of the people who help you take care of your business. Offering a high-quality retirement savings plan is one way to do that—not to mention, it’s a key tool for recruiting and retaining top talent.

But if you’re like most executives, you have a lot on your plate already. As plan sponsor, you may not feel you have the expertise—or the time—to shoulder full fiduciary responsibility for your plan’s quality, compliance, and performance. We can help.

The advisors at Estes Wealth Strategies bring more than 20 years of experience helping design, implement, and manage high-quality retirement plans and supporting plan sponsors every step of the way.

Retirement Plan Review & Benchmarking
When was your plan's last checkup? We evaluate your current retirement benefits and performance to answer questions like:

  • Is your plan’s investment menu aligned with the plan’s objectives and meeting fiduciary standards?

  • Are you ERISA compliant?

  • Are your plan fees reasonable, conflict-free, and transparent?

  • How does your plan participation compare to that of peer organizations?

We identify your plan’s strengths, pinpoint weaknesses, and develop strategies to maximize employee satisfaction—while keeping an eye on cost.

Retirement Plan Design & Strategy
Plan design is an often overlooked step in the process, despite being one of the most critical factors for a plan’s success. Important strategic considerations include eligibility and enrollment, default investments, matching contribution formulas, and profit sharing programs. We share our knowledge of industry best practices to help you structure your plan for optimal success.

Fiduciary Options
In the traditional retirement plan model, you (the plan sponsor) are the ERISA fiduciary. This means you are legally bound to act in the best interest of employees by providing a high-quality, reasonable, and transparent plan. Not every sponsor is comfortable with this level of responsibility and liability. To help mitigate your risk, we offer two advisory options:

  • ERISA 3(21) Model:  We Share Your Fiduciary Responsibility*

    As plan sponsor, you may decide that you want assistance in fulfilling your fiduciary responsibilities but don’t want to relinquish discretion and control in setting the plan’s investment menu. As a registered ERISA 3(21) advisor, we can share fiduciary responsibility. In this arrangement, we help you evaluate your investment options and make recommendations—but ultimately you make the investment selection decisions. We then help you monitor the investments and maintain proper plan documentation to stay in compliance.

  • ERISA 3(38) Model: RAYMOND JAMES AssumeS Your Fiduciary Responsibility*

    As plan sponsor, you may decide that you would prefer not to hold the fiduciary responsibility for investment selection in your plan. Through our relationship with Raymond James Financial Services, Raymond James can act as a fiduciary on your behalf. In this scenario, based on our understanding of your objectives and IPS, we establish your plan’s fund menu. Raymond James will then act with full discretion regarding the ongoing monitoring and replacement of plan investments, taking this responsibility* off your plate.

* As set forth in, and subject to, applicable agreements.

Investment Policy Statement
We work with you to draft and adopt an Investment Policy Statement (IPS), the formal, guiding document that defines the plans objectives, management processes, and approved investment options. This is a best practice for managing plans and maintaining compliance.

Plan Provider Selection
If a change is needed, we recommend potential plan providers whose capabilities and strengths align with your objectives and manage the proposal solicitation process with qualified vendors. As independent advisors, we aren’t tied to any specific 401(k) product. Our primary incentive is to find the plan that is the most appropriate for your employees. Once a provider is approved, we help coordinate all aspects of the plan’s conversion and installation.

Employee Education & Support
We make it a priority to be accessible to employees and play and active role in your plan’s success. In addition to periodic enrollment and education seminars (live and/or online), we produce a periodic e-newsletter, customized to your company, to educate employees about the importance of  saving for retirement. We also have an “open door” policy for employees to contact us directly by phone or email with their investment and retirement planning questions.