Your mission is to protect the client/company from costs, time and risks associated with employee complaints, government investigation and possible litigation.

You also want to assure that your company or client is in compliance with Sections 404 and 302 of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and ERISA requirements.

SummitPlan™ has been specifically built to accomplish your mission.

Summary

In today’s litigious environment, combined with an aging population that may have insufficient retirement resources, much more in services and value is both needed and required. The absence of those governance and compliance components serves to increase risk. Your job as legal counsel or compliance officer is not made easier, it is made more difficult.

SummitPlan™ Installs Required Internal Controls.
SummitPlan™ includes implementation of the Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program. This process 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 their services – they process information you provide to them. There are typically 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. Most ERISA attorneys admit that many plan sponsors do not always operate their plans in accordance with the terms and conditions of their documents. Because most companies outsource their plan’s administration, they do not have internal controls in place to assure operational compliance. ERISA requires plans of both public and private companies to be in operational compliance with the plan’s terms and conditions. If there are no internal controls in place, opportunities arise for Sarbanes-Oxley violations. In addition, IRS/DOL investigations which uncover fiduciary and/or administrative/operational error can generate substantial sanctions or fines and costly remedial action.
All such consequences consume company staff time, increase internal/legal costs and exposure to corporate and personal liabilities. Plaintiff’s counsel might use operational defects in the context of ERISA litigation as a testament of fiduciary inattention and possible negligence.
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 installation of this process, but ongoing monitoring/consulting for your company by Denali Fiduciary Management professionals to ensure its continuous operation and the plan’s compliance.

Back to the top

SummitPlan™ Includes the Fiduciary Assistance and Compliance Systems© (FACS™):
The FACS™ Program is a comprehensive system for the monitoring and documentation process necessary to assure a best fiduciary practices standard of fiduciary governance. The system includes 150+ pages of well-defined certifications, and disclosures which document procedural process. The very presence of such documentation will serve to enhance the quality of your decision making. It may also deter litigation which depends on the absence of prudent processes and documentation that illustrates it.
The FACS™ Program is the foundation of the 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.

Back to the top

In SummitPlan™, the duty of prudence is demonstrated through core investment strategies firmly rooted in low cost indexing investing and risk managed portfolios. Each investment option has undergone a thorough evaluation process to a prudent investor and fiduciary standard of care.  Special care is given to risk mitigation, cost structure, diversification and risk reward suitability for each plan:

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.

Back to the top

Denali is Your True Fiduciary Partner:
Denali FM’s professional team and advisors have over 200 years of collective experience in all areas pertinent to retirement plan management, investments and fiduciary governance. We serve as a fiduciary to your plan to protect your interests and the participants’.

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.

Back to the top

Optional Total Fiduciary Management:
SummitPlan™ offers you the option of having Denali professionals assume complete responsibility for all retirement plan management by serving as the plan’s independent fiduciary. This relieves you, and your colleagues, of all plan management responsibilities and duties. You are also relieved of fiduciary liability on a forward-looking basis. By leaving this in the hands of experienced professionals, this SummitPlan™ option allows you to eliminate personal risk and focus on more productive business management tasks.

Denali’s expertise assures you of :

• Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program installation.
• Fiduciary Assistance & Compliance Systems© installation.
• Institutional Investment Portfolios managed by an ERISA fiduciary whose motive is to obtain the best returns at reduced risk for its own retirement plans.
• Denali Fiduciary Management co-fiduciary or named independent fiduciary status and extensive consulting/support services.

Back to the top

• Fiduciary Audit® Protection Program.
• Fiduciary Assistance & Compliance Systems© process and documentation.
• Institutional investment portfolios.
• Denali Fiduciary Management Corporation Consulting Services and Legal Fiduciary Status.
• Optional independent fiduciary services.

For additional information on any of these plan risk-management components, please refer to other Question & Answers sections of our web site, or contact Denali Fiduciary Management.

Back to the top