The American Way 401(k)

As a plan fiduciary, you are charged with maintaining the integrity of your company’s retirement plan. “ERISA’s fiduciary standard is one of the highest standards of care available under the law”, says Phyllis C. Borzi of the Department of Labor. The American Way 401(k) provides a broadly diversified portfolio of options from quality fund companies with no proprietary fund bias. Our fund selection and quarterly monitoring reports assist you in fulfilling your Fiduciary due diligence responsibilities. Adding additional protection, Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) oversight either in the capacity of a Co-Fiduciary or full Fiduciary discretionary Investment Manager can be linked with our trading platform. Select your own RIA firm or visit www.EkonFinancial.com for more information.

As fiduciaries, Plan Sponsors are obligated to act prudently and in the best interest of their Participants. This responsibility includes selecting high quality, low cost investments and ensuring that fees are reasonable. Often, Plan Sponsors receive a 408(b)(2) disclosure that is difficult to decipher and deemed useless in understanding Plan expenses.
The American Way 401(k) offers a high quality, low cost bundled solution with complete transparency. When Plan Sponsors are given clear and concise information about their Plan and investment expenses, they can make informed decisions that result in better outcomes for participants. Coupled with state-of-the-art participant education and access to well-managed fund companies with consistent long-term performance, Participants have the tools they need to build a successful retirement future.

In Tibble v. Edison, “Petitioners argued that respondents acted imprudently by offering six higher priced retail-class mutual funds as Plan investments when materially identical lower priced institutional-class mutual funds were available.” Embedded subsidies in traditional 401(k)s are withdrawn based on account balances. Key personnel, with the largest account balances pay a disproportionate share of embedded fees with their valuable tax deferred dollars. Embedded subsidies in retail mutual fund share classes most often run forty basis points (0.40%). A participant with an account balance of $10,000 would only pay $40 annually, whereas a participant with a $100,000 balance would pay $400 annually, $250,000 – $1,000 annually, $500,000 – $2,000 annually. Embedded subsidies in retirement share classes are even higher most often running sixty-five basis points (0.65%), while insurance companies almost always add “contract charges” over and above these mutual fund embedded fees.

No hidden fees. No deception. No worries.

401(k) Plans have evolved to be the dominant retirement savings vehicle for the American worker however, a retirement plan is only as good as the parts it is made of. We reengineered the traditional 401(k) to replace the profit-driven broker and insurance products in today’s market. The innovative structure of the American Way 401(k) includes state-of-the-art technology, complete fee transparency, both active & passive strategies, investments from well-managed fund companies, and professionals who are experts in the industry.