For the first time, you can exercise prudence on behalf of your plan participants’ best interests AND minimize risk to yourself, your fellow fiduciaries (including the appointing fiduciaries Board of Directors) and your company.

Summary

• Protect yourself personally, and professionally.
  Ensure efficiency of company operations both in time and cost.
• Ensure compliance with the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley for internal controls of your retirement plan(s).
• Ensure compliance with the requirements of form 5500 filing certification of internal controls of your retirement plan(s).
• Ensure ERISA-required operational compliance.
  Protect your company from government investigation or litigation.
• Provide your employees with the best opportunities for retirement accumulation and allow for orderly retirement of senior staff.
• Reduce risk exposure to you, other plan fiduciaries and Board members.

SummitPlan™ has been specifically designed and built to aid you in this mission.

SummitPlan™ Offers 5 LAYERS of protection...

SummitPlan™ Installs Required Internal Controls:
SummitPlan™ includes implementation of the Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program. This Program has been developed by Jeffrey Mamorsky, J.D., Chair of the ERISA Department at Greenberg, Traurig LLP in New York. Mr. Mamorsky was one of the original authors of the ERISA legislation. The Program is proven and already in use at Fortune 500 companies.

Most firms providing retirement plan administration services do not guarantee the completeness or accuracy of administration – they only process information that is provided to them. There are few or no processes in place to assure their clients that the plan is being administered in accordance with the terms of the plan documents. ERISA attorneys admit that most retirement plans are not operated in accordance with the terms and conditions of their governing documents. Because most companies outsource their plan’s administration they do not have internal controls in place to assure their own operational compliance. ERISA requires that plans of both public and private companies be operated in accordance with the governing documents. If there are no internal controls in place, opportunities arise for Sarbanes-Oxley violations which may carry severe consequences. IRS/DOL investigations which uncover operational errors can generate potential plan disqualification, substantial sanctions/fines and other costly remedial action. For all companies, both public and private, internal controls are required for purposes of plan audit and your auditor’s completion of the form 5500 filing.

A lack of an internal controls process can eventually consume valuable staff time, increase internal/legal costs and exposure to corporate and personal liabilities. Plaintiff’s counsel might use the opportunity in context of ERISA litigation to refer to the existence of operational defects as a testament of fiduciary inattention and possible negligence.

SummitPlan™ provides the solution to the question of internal controls. The Fiduciary Audit Protection Program® is the foundation for a comprehensive, ongoing operational compliance audit and internal controls process, not just a one-time audit event. The process is implemented both at the plan sponsor level and at SummitPlan™’s administration providers. SummitPlan™ includes not only initial installation of this process, but monitoring/consulting and annual re-certification for your company by Denali Fiduciary Management professionals to ensure continuous compliance.

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The FACS™ Program is the foundation of the new, online ERISA fiduciary governance training available through Financial Executives International at fei.org. FEI is the largest association of financial officers in the country with over 15,000 members. SummitPlan™ includes full installation of the FACS™ Program.

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The recent investigations of misconduct by mutual fund companies have uncovered a variety of flaws in the use of their business model for ERISA retirement plans:

• Expenses are not readily disclosed.
• Funds have an exemption to ERISA fiduciary status which allows them to place the fund manager’s self interest above your plan participants’ best interests.
• They can engage in off balance sheet transactions
• Counter party risk assessments are proprietary and not subject to full disclosure rules.
• With limited disclosures, you don’t even know where the money is really invested.
• Managers, strategies and buy-sell disciplines can be changed at virtually any time.

In contrast, SummitPlan’s™ investments are designed to champion both investment results and fiduciary standards.

• SummitPlan™ uses low cost indexing investing and risk managed portfolios as the backbone of its investment menu. This, in combination with deep fiduciary processes reduces exposure to liability for plan fiduciaries and promotes the long-term interests of plan participants.
• There are no product marketing/branding agendas which compromise the high fiduciary standards embedded in the investment management process.
• SummitPlan™ customers access the highest quality investment management in the marketplace at a reasonable cost. Portfolios are managed for both performance and risk.
• This risk assessment function is both prudent and more sensible than age weighted or target retirement portfolios that are proprietary offerings from mutual fund vendors. On close inspection, such mutual fund “branded” products may be more of a marketing exercise than a true portfolio management solution.

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We also provide continuous consulting and monitoring services of the installed fiduciary processes. Denali’s fiduciary status assures you that:

• Denali executives and support staff operate in the best interests of your plan and your fiduciaries.
• Fiduciary process and protection is completed.
• There are no hidden compensation arrangements.
• All Denali and SummitPlan™-related services and fees are fully disclosed in writing.

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Total costs of SummitPlan™, including the installation of all fiduciary processes and features, are expected to be less than you and/or your participants are now paying for a program with few, if any fiduciary protections or high-value comprehensive compliance features and systems.

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SummitPlan™ provides you and your staff with a well-defined and easy to follow process for operational compliance and fiduciary governance. Your staff no longer struggles alone through the complexities of retirement plan governance and ERISA compliance. We take the responsibility to see that the plan is operationally compliant with its governing instruments. We do the work.

With SummitPlan™ you can eliminate the frustration of spending additional time and resources on consultants/attorneys attempting to get your plan in compliance. The processes are not time-consuming for your staff but they are clearly outlined and can only be completed with cooperation from your staff. Upon completion, your plan is certified as operationally compliant. The processes are continuously supported, monitored and documented by Denali FM professionals. This continuous process protects you, your fellow executives and your Board of Directors (the appointing fiduciaries).

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With SummitPlan™ is implemented, those Board members who serve as the appointing fiduciaries are protected from exposure to liability in several dimensions.

First, the plan’s operational compliance for Sarbanes-Oxley, ERISA and form 5500 filing requirements is assured via the Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program. Once this process is installed, your plan is certified as operationally compliant by the law firm of Greenberg, Traurig LLP.

Second, the processes of the Fiduciary Assistance & Compliance Systems© allow a plan sponsor to easily complete the statutory monitoring and governance functions required by ERISA. A complete suite of documentation is included in SummitPlan™. The Board appointing fiduciaries, being required to monitor the activities of those fiduciaries whom they appoint (members of the retirement plan committee) receive a complete suite of documentation every fiscal year. The culmination of this process is both complete process documentation and a certification to the Board attesting that various statutory monitoring functions have been completed. This certification closes the loop on the Board’s monitoring duties and provides assurance that the appointed fiduciaries are carrying out their monitoring duties to the highest standards.

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The investment component of SummitPlan™ is a backbone of low cost indexing investing and risk managed portfolios. This, in combination with deep fiduciary processes reduces exposure to liability for plan fiduciaries.

SummitPlan™ customers enjoy institutional investment management to a Prudent Investor Standard of Care in the management of their ERISA long-term trust assets.  Special care is given to risk mitigation, cost structure, diversification and risk reward suitability for each plan. 

Though future investment performance cannot be guaranteed, this backbone of investment choices is the most conservative and constructive choice a 401(k) fiduciary can make. This reduces fiduciary and Board risk of employee litigation or government investigation.

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The operational and governance processes in SummitPlan™ assure you that your plan is being operated a best practices fiduciary standard. This significantly reduces your liability and risk exposure.

With the total fiduciary services options, Denali Fiduciary Management can serve as an independent fiduciary at your request. Denali professionals will assume complete plan management responsibilities for you and your executive colleagues. Denali will report directly to a senior executive or the appointing fiduciaries (Board or Board sub-committee) as the appointing fiduciaries still retain a duty to monitor the activities of the independent fiduciary. We believe that such a strategy is conservative, prudent and efficient – more efficient for you and your fiduciary colleagues than reporting to an Administrative Committee whose members’ focus is properly on running your business.

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SummitPlan™ combines five layers of fiduciary protection to protect you, your company and your Board:

• Institutional investment portfolios independently managed to fiduciary standards.
• Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program for operational, SOX, ERISA and plan annual filing compliance
• Fiduciary Assistance & Compliance Systems© for a thorough system for documenting sound governance.
• Denali Fiduciary Management’s fiduciary status as either registered investment advisors or independent fiduciaries.
• Option for Denali Fiduciary Management professionals to serve as the plan’s independent fiduciary.
• SummitPlan™ protects your company, you and your Board. It is the first retirement system to align fiduciary protections with enhanced opportunities for investment and retirement success.

For additional information on any of these risk-management components, please refer to other Question & Answers sections of our web site or contact Denali Fiduciary Management at 206-463-6707 or enquiries@denalifm.com.

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