Firms Partner to Provide Fee Disclosure Solution

CRI says that the partnership will boost its AXIS Retirement Plan Analytic Platform, which was developed to address the Department of Labor’s 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements.  MIRA’s Fiduciary Analytics Consulting Services (FACS) will provide dedicated 408(b)(2) and independent fiduciary support and oversight, integrated with AXIS’ data processing and reporting services for broker/dealer and registered investment adviser (RIA) firms.

ERISA §404(a) and §408(b)(2) require plan fiduciaries to evaluate if their service/cost arrangements made with their 401(k) providers are reasonable. According to the announcement, FACS provides assurance of these facts for every 401(k) plan. The service will provide plan setup and review of every fund lineup, including benchmarking services, to ensure that each service provider arrangement is fully ERISA compliant. The service will also provide support for advisers that are servicing each plan.

“We recognize that Investment Advisor relationships and compensation will be scrutinized under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5),” said Rick Canipe and James Holland, principals of FACS. “This tool will arm them with the cost and service benchmarks needed to demonstrate their value to retain and take market share. Beyond that, AXIS can also quickly identify those plans that are vulnerable.”