Process

Diagnostic and Proposal

Alliant provides prospective clients with a diagnostic report that compares their current plan’s investment diversification, cost, participation and utilization against similarly sized plans in your industry. If your plan can be improved, we will provide a proposal describing the benefits of the Alliant Solution. These reports provide you with solid information you can use to document components of your plan that are working well for you, as well as identify those in need of improvement. We’re comfortable providing this information because we believe you’ll like what you see when you compare Alliant’s costs, services and strategies against other options.

Agreement

When you’re ready to proceed, we’ll sign a service agreement, in which you delegate to Alliant the duty of serving as the ERISA Section 3(38) investment fiduciary for your plan. As a 3(38) investment manager we take on 100 percent of the responsibility for expert and prudent plan investments. Under our service agreement, Alliant becomes responsible for the decisions we make in selecting, monitoring and replacing investment options within your plan. Don’t be fooled by warranties other companies may offer – unless they are acting as an ERISA Section 3(38) investment fiduciary, they do not provide the level of protection offered by Alliant.

Conversion

With our relationship established, we can begin working for you. We will:

  • Introduce our service team (Third Party Administrator, Recordkeeper and Custodian) or establish relationships with the service providers you choose.
  • Work with you to establish your investment policy statement and introduce investment options within your plan.
  • Help you identify and initiate processes and procedures to ensure ongoing ERISA compliance, including establishing a Compliance Checklist and optionally form an Investment Committee.
  • Oversee the transition from your current service provider to Alliant and your other service team members.

Employee Participation

With your infrastructure in place, we’ll hold an introductory meeting with your employees to explain their retirement plan benefit and investment selections, provide them with enrollment information and encourage their participation. Working with your Recordkeeper, we’ll provide ongoing participant support via a helpline during business hours as well as with online resources.

Our Continuing Relationship

Ongoing, we’ll continue to manage and monitor your plan, including: 

  • Attentive investment management in our fiduciary capacity as your ERISA 3(38) investment fiduciary.
  • Regulatory compliance support, including annual plan benchmarking, investment policy review and investment documentation as well as encouraging adherence to your Compliance Checklist.
  • Periodic educational sessions for your employees.
  • Coordination of your service team providers’ ongoing support of your plan.