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Silicon Valley Retirement Services
Silicon Valley Retirement Services structures 401(k) plans for tech firms, bundling fiduciary investment oversight with plan administration.
Silicon Valley Retirement Services
The firm was established to serve the retirement-plan needs of technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, providing bundled 401(k) administration, fiduciary investment selection, and employee education. Its founding principals built the practice around the premise that mid-sized tech employers require plan-level fiduciary support that generic payroll-provider retirement platforms do not offer. The wealth-generating event for the client base is typically equity compensation at pre-IPO and post-IPO technology companies, creating distinct plan-design challenges around concentrated stock positions and tax planning. Investment strategy centers on constructing and monitoring plan-level fund menus using predominantly passive, institutionally priced share classes. Asset classes represented include US large-cap equity, international developed markets, emerging markets, fixed income, and target-date series from major providers such as Vanguard and BlackRock. The firm does not deploy proprietary capital or manage separate accounts; it acts as a fiduciary advisor selecting and monitoring third-party funds. Its geographic focus is concentrated in the San Francisco Peninsula, San Jose, and East Bay technology corridors, though it administers plans for distributed workforces across multiple states. The firm is modestly scaled — consistent with a boutique retirement-plan consulting practice rather than a national recordkeeper or aggregator. It typically supports plans ranging from 20 to 500 participants, with aggregate plan assets under advisement that reflect the concentration of retirement wealth accumulating inside Silicon Valley tech workforces. There are no disclosed private fund vehicles, venture arms, or adjacent operating subsidiaries associated with the practice. Its structural distinction lies in specialization rather than scale. The firm competes not with Fidelity or Empower at the recordkeeping layer but with local and regional advisory practices that serve a plan-sponsor niche. Its architecture is service-intensive: the firm accepts fiduciary responsibility under ERISA Section 3(38) for investment selection and monitoring, a posture that transfers legal risk away from the plan sponsor — the employer — and onto the advisor. That regulatory posture shapes the entire client relationship and differentiates it from non-fiduciary brokers.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
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AUM
Undisclosed
Location
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City
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Corporate office
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Frequently asked questions
What services does Silicon Valley Retirement Services provide?
The firm provides bundled retirement-plan services including plan design, recordkeeping coordination, investment menu construction and monitoring, fiduciary oversight under ERISA Section 3(38), and employee education. Its model integrates investment selection with compliance support, targeting mid-sized technology employers that want a single point of accountability for their qualified retirement plans.
Does the firm accept discretionary fiduciary responsibility for investment selection?
Yes. Silicon Valley Retirement Services acts as an ERISA Section 3(38) investment manager, which means it accepts discretionary authority and fiduciary liability for selecting and monitoring the plan's investment menu. This transfers the legal responsibility for investment decisions from the plan sponsor — typically the employer's retirement committee — to the advisor, a meaningful distinction from non-discretionary advisory arrangements under Section 3(21).
What types of clients does the firm typically serve?
The firm focuses on mid-sized technology companies in Northern California, typically with 20 to 500 plan participants. Its client base spans pre-IPO startups through publicly traded enterprises in the San Francisco Peninsula, San Jose, and East Bay corridors. The practice is built around the specific retirement-plan challenges facing tech workforces, including managing concentrated equity positions and designing plans for highly compensated employee populations.
Does the firm manage proprietary investment funds or separate accounts?
No. Silicon Valley Retirement Services does not manage proprietary mutual funds, collective investment trusts, or separate accounts. It acts exclusively as a fiduciary advisor constructing and monitoring plan-level fund menus using third-party investment vehicles — predominantly low-cost institutional share classes of index funds and target-date series from managers such as Vanguard and BlackRock.
How does the firm differ from payroll-provider retirement platforms?
Payroll providers like ADP and Paychex typically offer integrated 401(k) services where recordkeeping and investment platforms are vertically bundled, often with limited fiduciary support. Silicon Valley Retirement Services provides independent fiduciary oversight, investment selection and monitoring, and plan-design consulting that sits above the recordkeeping layer. This allows plan sponsors to retain their existing payroll provider while receiving specialized fiduciary advice that generic bundled platforms do not deliver.
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