# TRANSPARENT 401K

TRANSPARENT 401K is an Asset Manager.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** https://transparent401k.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/transparent-401k-llc

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 158308
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** No
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/158308

## About

Transparent 401K is a Registered Investment Advisor and consulting firm focused on 401(k) plans. It has a fiduciary duty to act in clients' best interest and works to help companies and employees retire well through fee transparency, open architecture, and better fund selection. The firm serves smaller to medium size businesses across various industries and does not take revenue sharing, commissions, or placement fees.

## Sectors

- smaller to medium size businesses across various industries

## Questions

### How does TRANSPARENT 401K charge for its services?

The firm charges a flat monthly subscription fee per plan rather than the traditional asset-based fee model used by legacy recordkeepers. Its revenue does not scale with participant balances. This removes the economic incentive for the provider to favor higher-cost funds or resist plan fee reductions.

### Does TRANSPARENT 401K manage its own proprietary investment funds?

No. TRANSPARENT 401K does not manage proprietary funds or collect revenue-sharing from fund companies. Its investment menus are constructed from low-cost third-party ETFs, commonly from providers like Vanguard and Dimensional Fund Advisors, within a fiduciary framework.

### What size of 401(k) plan does TRANSPARENT 401K target?

TRANSPARENT 401K markets primarily to small and mid-sized businesses with plan assets under $20 million. This segment historically receives less pricing transparency and higher relative fees from traditional asset-based providers.

### Is TRANSPARENT 401K a fiduciary to the plans it serves?

The firm operates under an ERISA fiduciary framework for the investment selection and monitoring components of its service. As a non-asset-based provider, its fiduciary role does not carry the structural conflict of earning more when participants accumulate more savings, a feature of most 3(38) services bundled with recordkeeping.

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- [Trails Edge Capital Partners](https://altss.com/profile/trails-edge-capital-partners-lp)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:22.057Z

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