Plan Sponsor Adviser

The firm operates as a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, accepting fiduciary status in writing for all client engagements. It does not hold a broker-dealer license, receive transaction-based compensation, or participate in revenue-sharing arrangements with recordkeepers or fund companies—eliminating the conflicts that arise when a firm both advises plans and earns commissions from product providers.

Plan Sponsor Adviser provides both 3(21) co-fiduciary and 3(38) full-discretionary fiduciary services under ERISA. In a 3(21) engagement, the firm recommends and monitors the investment lineup while the committee retains final decision authority. In a 3(38) engagement, the firm assumes full discretion to select, remove, and replace plan investments without committee approval—reducing committee liability while requiring strong trust in the adviser's process.

The firm runs blind-RFP processes for plan sponsors seeking new recordkeepers, third-party administrators, or investment-consulting relationships. It defines service requirements, builds fee grids for apples-to-apples comparison, and facilitates finalist presentations. Plan Sponsor Adviser's fee benchmarking database, built from client engagements, is used to negotiate per-participant costs below industry averages published in the 401k Averages Book.

Plan Sponsor Adviser advises both defined benefit and defined contribution plans, though its recent book of business has skewed heavily toward 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans as corporate DB plans continue to freeze or terminate. For remaining DB plan sponsors, the firm provides liability-driven investment strategy reviews and actuarial-assumption oversight in coordination with the plan's enrolled actuary.

Consultants at Plan Sponsor Adviser typically hold the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) designation from Fi360, signaling specialized training in fiduciary process management under ERISA. Several also carry the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation, which requires deep coursework across retirement, health, and welfare benefit plan design and compliance.