BENCHMARKING

As a member of Retirement Plan Advisory Group™ (RPAG™), Independence Financial Partners has access to dedicated Provider Search/Fee Benchmarking resources for investment management, recordkeeping services and fee comparisons, which helps plan sponsors to meet important fiduciary requirements while ensuring a best practices retirement plan.

The Benchmarking Department is committed solely to performing plan provider searches. By leveraging RPAG’s intellectual capital and robust consulting tools, Independence Financial Partners can lead plan sponsors through the benchmarking process—from the initial proposal requests to the final analysis, and even conversion management assistance (if and when warranted). Ultimately, the final report output documents whether current fees, services and investments are competitive with the marketplace, which helps plan fiduciaries meet their responsibilities as set forth by ERISA.

RPAG’s proprietary RFP Benchmarking process employs both quantitative and qualitative metrics. The final output is titled the B3 Provider Analysis™ to represent the benchmarking of fees, services and investments in one comprehensive report. Features of the process include:

• Initial Needs Analysis
• RFP Questionnaire
• Response Compilation
• Total Cost Analysis
• Investment Opportunities Ranking
• Conversion Assistance
• Provider Contract Review & Negotiation

• Since 2011, the RPAG B3 Provider Analysis™ system has received over 20,000 live pricing quotes from service providers and has produced over 5,000 benchmarking reports.
  
• On a semi-annual basis, the RPAG RFP Department collects updates from 90+ providers to ensure current data is maintained in its proprietary B3 Provider Analysis™ database.
  
• The final report output includes 450+ data points in key areas including recordkeeping, investment management, compliance services, employee education and technology.
  
• A Total Cost Analysis shows bottom-line dollar amounts of incumbent and bidding providers, and includes revenue sharing analysis for full fee transparency.
  
• RPAG routinely meets with service providers to stay abreast of product enhancements and conducts site visits to ensure ongoing qualitative due diligence.
  
• RPAG’s B3 Provider Analysis™ services can be applied to 401(k), 403(b), 457, Non-Qualified and Defined Benefit plans ranging from under $1,000,000 to over $1,000,000,000.

Independence Financial Partners is a member of Retirement Plan Advisory Group™ (RPAG™). The consulting services reflect services that we will provide as a result of our member with RPAG. This includes, but is not limited to, investment due diligence, RFP and fee benchmarking, plan design and fiduciary review and communication services.