Freedom401k®

Freedom401k® is a CAPTRUST solution for retirement plan sponsors designed to reduce the complexity, distraction, and day-to-day resource drain of managing a retirement plan.

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Freedom401k® from CAPTRUST Financial Advisors is a fiduciary solution for retirement plan sponsors designed to reduce the complexity, distraction, and day-to-day resource drain of managing a retirement plan. By hiring CAPTRUST to act as your plan’s investment manager, you manage fiduciary tasks via your plan sponsor portal, and transfer investment liability to CAPTRUST. As a result, you spend less time on plan investments and can focus on other aspects of plan management—like help getting participants in your plan and saving more for their retirement. As a part of the program, you gain access to:

  • An experienced firm that establishes and monitors an appropriate investment menu for your plan
  • The highest level of investment fiduciary liability transfer under ERISA 3(38) – from you to our firm
  • A dedicated participant website to help your participants enroll, make elections, and changes
  • A dedicated plan sponsor portal to help you manage fiduciary tasks

Dedicated Investment Manager

As your plan’s investment manager, we keep you up to date on how your plan’s investment menu is performing, make changes as necessary, and share valuable research from CAPTRUST’s dedicated research team, including position papers, topical articles, legislative updates, and the latest capital market perspective. Think of CAPTRUST as your liasion to the best investment thinking, and an advocate to help you manage your plan more effectively.

Fiduciary Liability Transfer

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provides for several types of fiduciaries to help plan sponsors manage or reduce their fiduciary liability. By hiring CAPTRUST and taking advantage of the Freedom401k® program, you transfer investment liability to CAPTRUST at the highest level possible under ERISA Section 3(38). This liability transfer allows you to spend less time and energy on plan investments and more time helping participants get in your plan and saving more.

Administration and Recordkeeping

Managing your 401(k) plan can be time-consuming and complicated. That’s why you need an experienced partner who can take on the administrative duties, recordkeeping, legal compliance and other tactical chores involved with ensuring the success of your 401(k) plan. We can help. For more than 20 years, we’ve applied our proven processes and extensive experience to reduce the administrative burden for hundreds of companies. With a focus on proactive client service, our goal is to:

  • Make sure that your plan runs smoothly
  • Provide greater compliance with all ERISA regulations
  • Help you meet all of your fiduciary responsibilities for plan administration

Simplify Responsibility

If you’re like most plan sponsors, successfully managing a retirement plan can feel like a tall order, especially when regulatory changes keep you on your toes. While fiduciary responsibilities are important, you may find yourself struggling to balance the many other competing demands of your role outside managing your retirement plan. Did you know that you can decide how much investment responsibility you want to take on yourself? Technically there are several definitions for types of fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Knowing what these types of fiduciaries are may help you figure out what level of investment selection and monitoring responsibility you are comfortable with, and if you would like to transfer liability to an investment manager.

Do It Yourself

You are the sole named investment fiduciary to the plan. You select the investment menu without advice from an outside source and have full liability for investment selection. No outside party shares investment fiduciary responsibility. Get Help Under ERISA section 3(21), you are a co-fiduciary with an investment advisor. You hire a registered investment advisor (RIA) to assist with plan investment decisions. The RIA may provide services ranging from investment consulting services, to a more holistic engagement, including plan design consulting, vendor selection, participant communication, education, and advice. The plan sponsor is not fully relieved of fiduciary responsibility for selection and monitoring of plan investment options. Have It Done For You Under ERISA section 3(38), you select a designated investment advisor to be the investment manager. You hire an RIA as an investment manager to select and monitor your plan’s investment options on an ongoing basis. This investment manager accepts discretionary authority to manage, acquire, and dispose of investment options over time. The investment manager acknowledges in writing that it is acting as a fiduciary with responsibility and accountability for the selection of the investment menu.

A 3(38) arrangement represents the highest level of investment liability transfer possible under ERISA. ERISA views the liability for investment selection as residing with the investment manager. While this does not completely absolve the plan sponsor, liability is defined much more narrowly. ERISA 405(d) provides that under a 3(38) arrangement, “the plan sponsor and/or trustees of the plan are not liable for acts or omissions of the 3(38) investment manager, and are under no obligation to invest or otherwise manage any asset of the plan which is subject to management of that investment manager.” Freedom401k® represents a “Have it Done For You” approach. By hiring CAPTRUST to act as your plan’s investment manager, plan sponsors can spend less time and energy on plan investments, and more time providing participants with resources to help them take advantage of and contribute to the plan.

Do your employees know how much money they need to retire?

Is your 401(k) plan employee participation at your company’s target level? Are you confident that your employees are effectively using your plan to reach their retirement goals? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you’re not alone. Research has shown that many employees simply don’t have the necessary knowledge and financial expertise to get the maximum value from their 401(k) plan. We can help. For more than 20 years, we’ve provided hundreds of companies with industry-leading, highly customized participant advice designed to:

  • Promote the value of participating in the plan.
  • Provide each employee with an investment strategy tailored to their individual needs.
  • Ensure that your employees stay on track toward meeting their retirement goals.

Better Outcomes

When combined with our Participant Advice Services, Freedom401k® clients experience increased enrollment and higher deferral rates. Focused on helping participants invest well and save more, our retirement counselors provide one-on-one advice to employees and encourage them to take action based on recommendations tailored to the individual.