A Plan Sponsor was struggling with the level of service their current representative was providing for their company’s 401(k) Plan. Seeking additional services, including recommendations to benchmark their record-keeping / custodian fees, the Plan Sponsor contacted Heck Capital.

• Heck Capital recommended the Plan Sponsor needed to implement a blind RFI (Request For Information) for record-keeping / custodian services.
• With this specific Plan Sponsor, the participants were bearing the costs of the Plan's services, which were layered on the expense ratios of the individual investment options net of any revenue sharing credited back.
• In the current set up, the Plan participants were paying for an additional advisor who was to provide assistance to Plan participants but wasn’t registered to provide financial advice on asset allocation or investment selection.
• Annual record-keeping / custodian fees were substantially higher than the industry average.

• Heck Capital collected plan data from the current record-keeper / custodian, and reviewed and identified the different features of the Plan along with all associated costs. It is important to identify how the Plan and its participants are paying for the services in order to effectively implement the blind RFI.
• Blind RFI was conducted and three additional record-keepers / custodians provided responses and benchmarking for the Plan Sponsor.
• As a secondary benefit, Heck Capital also reviewed the investment menu and provided suggestions for improvement.

• Throughout the blind RFI and consulting process Heck Capital developed a relationship with the current representative. We maintained our relationship after the RFI process, to negotiate, on behalf of the Plan Sponsor. Negotiations included: an annual fee reduction of 0.50% and lowered costs on select investment options offered to the Plan and its participants.
• The Plan Sponsor implemented our recommendations which resulted in an overall more efficient Plan for the Plan Sponsor.