Retirement Services

Ameriana Financial Services is a qualified retirement plan consulting company whose services help protect plan fiduciaries from personal and corporate financial liability, while enhancing retirement opportunities for plan participants.

Through process-driven, timely and comprehensive delivery of services, Ameriana Financial Services strives to fulfill its mission of creating ongoing successful retirement plan experiences for employers and employees.

Services

Every plan sponsor has unique goals and objectives.  As your plan consultant, Ameriana Financial Services will create an ongoing service plan specific to your needs.  From plan design review to detailed investment analysis to employee communications and more, our dedicated consultants will delivery value-added services to ensure a successful retirement plan experience both for you and your employees.

Investment Analysis

Without a sound investment due diligence process, plan fiduciaries may be held personally liable for poor employee investment returns.

Ameriana Financial Services provides plan sponsors with a comprehensive and systematic process to analyze, select, monitor and, when necessary, replace investments.  We utilize several of the best, most robust analytical tools available in the industry today and have developed our own in-house process and Scorecard^SM ranking system.  The end result is a 100+ page report of quantitative and qualitative analysis that helps reduce exposure to fiduciary liability while enhancing investment opportunities for employees.

• Investment Policy Statement
• Investment Analysis and Review
• Fund Ranking and Screening Methodology
• Quarterly Market Summary
• Online Report Access

Vendor Benchmarking

Looking for a new retirement plan system can be time consuming and cumbersome.  Ameriana Financial Services shoulders the burden of searching for a new provider by managing the process from the initial proposal requests to the final analysis, recommendation and even conversion management assistance.  Depending on the plan sponsor's goals, objectives, demographics and philosophy, we will match clients with the provider who delivers the highest possible quality products and services at the most competitive total plan cost.

In many instances, we perform routine benchmarking reports for clients who aren't necessarily looking for a change but instead want to make sure that total plan costs are relevant to services being received.  Ameriana Financial Services recommends this fiduciary exercise to all its clients at least every 2 - 3 years.

• Initial Needs Analysis
• FTP Questionnaire
• Response Compilations/Spreadsheeting
• Executive Summary
• Total Cost Analysis
• Conversion Assistance
• Pricing Negotiation

404(a) / 404(c) Guidance

Since the enactment of ERISA (The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) there have been more than one dozen major pieces of legislation impacting the design and operation of retirement plans.  And with recent legislation such as EGTRRA and Sarbanes-Oxley, the complexity of 401(k) plans has never been greater.

Ameriana Financial Services compliance resources and consulting expertise helps to protect plan fiduciaries and executives from financial loss due to DOL and IRS penalties, as well as ERISA and employee civil litigation.

• Compliance Checklist
• Investment Policy Statement
• Investment Due Diligence Process and Sample Documentation
• 404(c) Policy Statement and Notice
• Custom Fee Disclosures
• 404(c) Guidance
• 404(a) Monitoring
• Customized Online Report Access

Plan Design

The foundation of a successful 401(k) plan begins with a plan design that corresponds to each employer's current and future needs and employee demographics.  Ameriana Financial Services offers an organized, systematic and periodic plan review process.  Each relevant design feature is examined with ideas to improve plan value.  Some design features reviewed in our analysis include:

• Eligibility Waiting Period
• Plan Entry Dates
• Elective Deferral Limits
• Employer Match Design and Funding
• Age and Service Requirements
• Definition of Financial Hardship
• Funding Timing for Employer Contributions
• Loan Provision Design
• In-Service Withdrawal Provisions
• Discretionary Contribution Formulas
• Vesting Issues and Design
• Plan Trustee Issues

Employee Communications

Without an intensive and ongoing employee communications process, even a well-designed 401(k) plan will not be successful.  Through Ameriana Financial Services communication services, you may enhance participation, satisfaction and understanding of asset allocation and risk tolerance.  This also helps plan sponsors to meet 404(c) requirements to provide adequate education about investing in the company's 401(k) plan.

• Pre-Enrollment Memos and Announcements
• On-Site Group and Individual Enrollment Meetings
• Investment Education Meetings
• Sample Employee Memos
• Monthly Client Newsletters