SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EVALUATING DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS

• US 20110145166A1
• Filed: 06/18/2010
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fiduciary Benchmarks Insights, LLC
• Original Assignee: Fiduciary Benchmarks, Inc.
• Inventors: Rosenthal, Craig S., Lacy, Edna O., Eisen, Ronald B., Golda, Matthew A., Kmak, Thomas R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,198 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/36.R
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

A system and method for comparing retirement plans against a selected group of similar plans is disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer system for evaluating a retirement plan comprises a computer server having a database comprising a plurality of data defining a plurality of characteristics of each of a plurality of retirement plans, software configured for identifying a subset of the plurality of retirement plans having characteristics comparable to characteristics of a selected retirement plan, software configured for permitting the selection of at least one report from a plurality of report types, and software configured for automatically generating the selected at least one report, where the at least one report comprises an evaluation of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan against the characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

Claims

1. A method of evaluating a retirement plan, comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of data corresponding to a plurality of retirement plans;

storing the data in memory on at least one web-accessible computer;

determining a subset of the plurality of retirement plans;

comparing characteristics of the selected retirement plan to corresponding characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans;

selecting at least one report for reporting the comparison of the selected retirement plan to the subset of the plurality of retirement plans; and

automatically generating the selected at least one report.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the subset of the plurality of retirement plans comprises:

identifying the characteristics of the selected retirement plan that correspond to at least one factor; and

identifying which of the plurality of retirement plans have characteristics that correspond to the at least one factor and which are identical to the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan or which correspond to a predefined range bracketing the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one factor comprises at least one of an amount of plan assets, a number of plan participants, a last year the plan was bid or reviewed, a type of company industry, a plan type, whether the plan includes an automatic participant enrollment feature, whether the plan includes an employer match feature, a percentage of plan assets held in index funds, and a percentage of plan assets held in managed accounts.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing characteristics of the selected retirement plan to corresponding characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans comprises comparing fees paid by the selected retirement plan against fees paid by the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing characteristics of the selected retirement plan to corresponding characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans comprises comparing at least one investment option of the selected retirement plan against at least one investment option of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing characteristics of the selected retirement plan to corresponding characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans comprises comparing the complexity of the selected retirement plan against the complexity of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing characteristics of the selected retirement plan to corresponding characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans comprises comparing at least one participant success measure of the selected retirement plan against the corresponding at least one success measure of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one report is pre-configured or is user-customizable.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising a web portal interface for receiving the plurality of data from a user, the web portal interface dynamically including and excluding data entry fields according to selections received by the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristics of the selected retirement plan include at least one fee, the method further comprising the step of identifying the at least one fee associated with the selected retirement plan.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristics of the selected retirement plan include at least one source for at least one fee, the method further comprising the step of identifying the at least one source for the at least one fee associated with the selected retirement plan.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein identifying the at least one source for the at least one fee comprises identifying imbedded fees associated with the selected retirement plan.

13. A computer system for evaluating a retirement plan, comprising:

a computer server comprising a database, the database comprising a plurality of data defining a plurality of characteristics of each of a plurality of retirement plans;

a computer-readable medium encoded with a first computer program executable by a computer for determining a subset of the plurality of retirement plans having characteristics comparable to characteristics of a selected retirement plan;

a computer-readable medium encoded with a second computer program executable by the computer for permitting the selection of at least one report; and

a computer-readable medium encoded with a third computer program executable by the computer for automatically generating the selected at least one report, wherein the at least one report comprises a comparison of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan against the characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the subset of the plurality of retirement plans is determined by

identifying the characteristics of the selected retirement plan that correspond to at least one factor;

and

identifying which of the plurality of retirement plans have characteristics that correspond to the at least one factor and which are identical to the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan or which correspond to a predefined range bracketing the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan.

15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the at least one factor comprises at least one of an amount of plan assets, a number of plan participants, a last year the plan was bid or reviewed, a type of company industry, a plan type, whether the plan includes an automatic participant enrollment feature, whether the plan includes an employer match feature, a percentage of plan assets held in index funds, and a percentage of plan assets held in managed accounts.

16. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the comparison of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan comprises a comparison of the fees paid by the selected retirement plan against the fees paid by the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

17. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the comparison of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan comprises a comparison of at least one investment option of the selected retirement plan against at least one investment option of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

18. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the comparison of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan comprises a comparison of the complexity of the selected retirement plan against the complexity of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

19. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the comparison of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan comprises a comparison of at least one participant success measure of the selected retirement plan against the corresponding at least one success measure of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

20. The computer system of claim 13, further including a web portal interface for receiving retirement plan data.

21. A retirement plan comparison report, comprising:

a first data set corresponding to a selected retirement plan;

a second data set corresponding to a subset of a plurality of retirement plans, the subset of the plurality of retirement plans determined by

identifying characteristics of the selected retirement plan that correspond to at least one factor, and

identifying which of the plurality of retirement plans have characteristics corresponding to the at least one factor and which are identical to the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan or which correspond to a predefined range bracketing the identified characteristics of the selected retirement plan; and

a comparison of the first data set against the second data set comprising a comparison of at least one of participant success measures, fees paid, plan design provisions, plan complexity, fiduciary oversight services, fiduciary best practices services, plan-driven services, participant-driven services, timeliness of provided services, and accuracy of provided services.

22. The report of claim 21, wherein the comparison of the first data set and against the second data set is one of qualitative and quantitative.

23. The report of claim 21, wherein the at least one factor comprises at least one of an amount of plan assets, a number of plan participants, a last year the plan was bid or reviewed, a type of company industry, a plan type, whether the plan includes an automatic participant enrollment feature, whether the plan includes an employer match feature, a percentage of plan assets held in index funds, and a percentage of plan assets held in managed accounts.

24. The report of claim 21, wherein participant success measures comprises at least one of a participation rate, an average deferral percentage for non-highly compensated employees, an average deferral percentage for non-highly compensated employees, an average deferral percentage for highly compensated employees, a percentage of participants maximizing a company match feature, a percentage of assets in automatically diversified options, a percent of eligible participants making catch-up contributions, a percentage of participants using an automatic rebalance option, a percentage of participants using an automatic investment selection feature, a percentage of terminated participants that have not cashed out their assets, a percentage of participants with a personal retirement goal, and a percentage of participants on track to achieve their personal goal.

25. The report of claim 21, wherein fees paid comprises at least one of fees paid at a plan sponsor level, fees paid at a participant level, and fees paid at a plan level.

26. The report of claim 21, wherein a comparison of the fees paid comprises determining a reasonableness of the fees paid in view of a qualitative assessment of the selected retirement plan and of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

27. The report of claim 21, wherein plan complexity comprises at least one of plan eligibility features, employee contribution features, employer contribution features, plan investment features, and plan distribution features.

28. The report of claim 21, wherein fiduciary oversight services comprises at least one of plan design services, plan administration services, plan communications services, plan investment services, plan fee services, and plan company stock services.