Qualified Plan Advisory

Under Section 3(38) of ERISA, QPA accepts full discretionary authority and responsibility for selecting, monitoring, and replacing the plan's investment options. The plan sponsor transfers liability for investment decisions to QPA. This is distinct from a 3(21) arrangement, where QPA makes recommendations but the plan sponsor retains final decision-making authority and the associated fiduciary risk.

The firm operates under an RIA structure, which allows it to bill through flat retainers or asset-based fees rather than relying on commission or revenue-sharing models tied to specific investment products. This fee is typically disclosed as a plan expense and would appear in the plan's Form 5500 filing. The absence of a broker-dealer affiliation removes one common layer of compensation conflict in retirement plan consulting.

Qualified Plan Advisory's practice covers the core ERISA plan types common to US private-sector employers. This typically includes 401(k) profit-sharing plans, 403(b) arrangements for non-profits, defined-benefit pension plans when those remain active, and nonqualified deferred-compensation plans for executive-level participants. Its clients are plan sponsors, not individual participants.

Based on the specialized, committee-facing nature of its fiduciary engagements, the firm's practice model aligns with a boutique consulting structure serving a concentrated book of plan-sponsor clients. Boutique retirement RIAs of this type typically manage fewer, deeper relationships rather than processing high volumes of small-plan transactions.

There is no indication that the firm provides participant-level advisory services, retail brokerage, or individual portfolio management. Its model targets the plan sponsor and the plan committee as the client, focusing on plan-level governance, investment menu construction, and provider oversight, which keeps its fiduciary perimeter aligned with the plan rather than individual participant accounts.