Summit specializes in plan analysis and design to provide optimized solutions for your business and employees, so you never have to wonder if you’re getting the most out of your retirement benefit.
THE CHALLENGE:
With the bank’s growth and purchase of multiple branches, they wanted to provide a more robust overall benefit with enhanced matching, but they lacked a consultant to answer their questions and identify opportunities.
Employees and trustees of the plan alike felt underserved by their plan advisor. Their previous 401k service provider acted as recordkeeper, compliance, and advisor, offering minimal support in each area.
The client could not identify what roles their current provider was covering and needed specialized guidance to address their key goals and issues.
On top of this, employees had never been educated on their plan and had many unanswered questions related to their investments.
WHAT WE DID:
Summit completed benchmarking for the client’s current plan design, fund offerings, and fees to gauge their plan strength and identified areas for improvement. We organized and modernized the plan investment options, adjusting the fund line up and giving employees access to a balance of actively and passively managed funds.
Our team restructured the roles and responsibilities of the service providers and added responsive specialists that could quickly handle plan hangups and address the client’s plans for growth.
Summit also had in-depth, in-person education at the client’s branches built into our service because we recognize the importance of participant education to plan success. The previous service provider treated employee education as an optional add-on and would have charged extra to offer education. We scheduled education before and after the plan transition to a new recordkeeper to make sure employees were comfortable in their understanding of the enhanced match and the new offerings.
THE RESULT:
Summit’s strategic improvements boosted employee confidence and helped retain employees as the growing client acquired new branches.
Our work enhanced matching by 200%. For many employees, Summit was the first to educate them on investing basics, resulting in more Roth enrollment and contribution rate increases. The new fund lineup that our team introduced eliminated revenue sharing, aligning the plan with industry standards, and giving employee a clearer picture of their fees.
