Plan governance and fiduciary responsibility

Overseeing the operation of your benefit plan and protecting the fiduciary actions can be worrisome and time-consuming. Buck can help you govern your plan without sacrificing your competitive advantage. We bring highly specialized knowledge of employee benefit plans, and keep you on top of the latest trends, regulations, and best practices for your governance and fiduciary tasks. Our consultants are lawyers, actuaries, and professional communicators who are here to help you avoid legal landmines, train your fiduciaries, develop policies and procedures that are designed for your particular needs, and provide you with governance tools. We can help with:

Fiduciary training: We train you on what you need to do in order to meet your fiduciary responsibilities. And, we keep you abreast of current trends and changes.

Plan governance and fiduciary liability reviews: We work with you to document the administrative process so you can comply with your reporting responsibilities. We review your plan governance structure and fiduciary process to determine if and where there may be a gap. We help you document your governance and fiduciary practices so you can withstand scrutiny and ensure that your formal reporting protocols support rigorous oversight and monitoring of plan operations.

We can also assess your risk level and help you develop a plan based on the results. Using a series of questions along with an instant risk assessment dashboard, our diagnostic tool, Governance Insight, provides a macro snapshot of your governance umbrella and helps determine if your processes are on the right track.

Creating governance structures and policies, including preparation of committee charters and fiduciary files: We’ll design a well-conceived governance structure, based on a clear allocation of fiduciary roles and responsibilities and appropriate reporting and reviewing protocols, and to support rigorous oversight of plan operations and investments. We document the governance structure with formal committee charters and help create policies, including standards for fiduciary meetings and minutes, training for fiduciaries, and documenting fiduciary decisions, to help ensure compliance with ERISA’s fiduciary rules. Our comprehensive Reporting and Disclosure Guide: Retirement and Welfare Benefit Plans, identifies and describes major ERISA reporting and disclosure requirements. Download your copy today.