Retirement Plan Consulting

We are proud to serve both for profit and non-profit retirement plan clients. We are both vendor and investment neutral, thus allowing us to act as a true fiduciary consultant. Our goal is your success, an efficiently managed retirement vehicle that helps both corporations and nonprofit organizations attract and retain valuable employees. Heffernan Financial Services utilizes a strategic approach to help clients manage all aspects of their retirement plan. We first benchmark your current plan to determine its competitiveness from an administrative, investment, and cost-effective standpoint. Focused on helping our client partners understand and navigate the complexities of wealth management, our methods and resources, together with our extensively qualified team, deliver a customized employer benefits portfolio.

 

Our Services Include:

3(21) Fiduciary Advisory Services - “Help me do it” Co-fiduciary services for investment recommendations.

3(38) Investment Management Services - “Do it for me” Fiduciary services for investment decisions at the sponsor level Plan Level Benchmarking Plan Design Assistance Investment Policy Statement Assistance and Review Investment Menu Design Assistance Investment Review Meetings - Comprehensive Investment Reviews - We take minutes of the meeting for you Assistance with change in investment options Fee & Service Review.

 

The following is an overview of what you can expect from the Heffernan Financial Services Advisory team:

  • Strategic/customized plans
    • Investment due diligence
    • Benchmarking
    • Account service plan
    • Fiduciary audit package
    • Plan design review & support
  • Plan health review
  • Employee education & communication programs
  • Legislation & compliance assistance
  • Financial wellness services
  • Merger & acquisition support
  • Helping clients develop a retirement program to address the 4 r's:
    • Recruit, retain, reward, retire

     

    Retirement Plan Advisory

    Strategic Planning

     

    Fiduciary Training & Assistance

    We offer solutions to help plan sponsors address their fiduciary responsibilities through the effective use of investment committee training, plan governance, and provider monitoring. Heffernan Financial Services offers fiduciary best practices training that helps to promote excellence in plan management through efficient governance and monitoring.

    Investment Due Diligence

    Market volatility makes it critical for retirement plan sponsors and fiduciaries to develop and maintain investment due diligence procedures and supporting documentation. Heffernan Financial Services will work with the retirement plan committee to develop and maintain the plan's investment strategy, which is codified in an investment policy statement. This investment policy statement is used as a guide to evaluate your current investment offerings, measuring them against applicable indices, your existing provider's complete menu, and the broader universe of investment options. The result is confidence that your plan's investments are diversified, well managed, and meet the stated objectives of your investment policy statement.

    Plan Design Review & Support

    In the world of retirement plans, only one thing seems certain: change is constant. Over the last decade, Congress has burdened plan sponsors with an overwhelming volume of legislation, making continual review of retirement plans essential. It is critical that the legal, compliance and design aspects of a plan are current.

    Benchmarking

    We realize the importance of having access to benchmarking data for the decision-making process as well as from a budgetary standpoint. In addition to our own large client database, we work with several outside resources, which empowers our clients to benchmark their retirement plan offerings against those of similar employers—defined by size, industry, geographic location, cost, and plan design.

    Education and Communication

    A successful communication program is critical to the success of a company's retirement plan and their employees' long-term financial wellness. Consistent educational sessions increase employee participation, while individual one-on-one consulting sessions offer an opportunity to focus on long-term financial goals for themselves and their families.

    Account Service Plan

    Heffernan works with our clients to develop a customized annual account service plan. These annual plans include aids such as annual compliance calendars, and timely legislative and market updates that outline the action items for execution throughout the year. We also assist with refining the objectives of the retirement plans to meet our client goals.