02 / They fear being committed to a program that can be difficult to terminate
03 / The plan requires significant amounts of staff time and resources to administer
Alpha & Omega specializes in designing, implementing and administering cost-effective employee benefits plans for small to mid-size employers. We make it easy to provide the retirement benefits you and your employees want and deserve with the following TPA services:
- Plan Design
- Plan Administration
- Investment Selection
- Document Prep and IRS Filing
- Employee Communication
Plan Design
In today’s financial markets, you can find many different types of qualified plans, and not all are a good fit for your business. The wrong design plan can end up costing you more while failing to deliver the results you want.
At A&O, we take the time to learn about your business and the goals you hope to achieve with an employee benefits plan. Then we craft a custom plan based on the unique needs of your business that will add the most value to your company and your employees.
Leaving no stone unturned, we address the essential components of successful plan design, including:
- Amount of benefits to be provided
- Eligibility requirements
- How the plan will be funded
- Tax issues
- Governance and administrative oversight
- And more
These are just some of the many plan administration services we provide. Our primary goal is to provide you with a turnkey administrative solution that allows you to manage your plan without interrupting the day-to-day workflow of your employees or your business operations.
Plan Administration
Our plan administration services can relieve you of the burden involved in implementing and administering your qualified plan. These include:
- Establishing policies and procedures
- Maintaining all participant records
- Assisting in determining contribution levels for the plan
- Allocating salary deferral contributions, employer match, employer discretionary contributions and earnings to individual participant accounts
- Determining optimum contribution levels to achieve participant goals
These are just some of the many plan administration services we provide. Our primary goal is to provide you with a turnkey administrative solution that allows you to manage your plan without interrupting the day-to-day workflow of your employees or your business operations.
Investment Selection
Selecting the right investments is critical for the success of any defined benefits plan. One reason our clients choose Alpha & Omega is that we do not sell any product or accept commissions, 12(b) (1) fees or finder’s fees as part of our basic TPA services. This enables us to provide impartial, objective advice regarding the investment funds we recommend for your plan, as well as investment managers to handle those funds of larger clients.
As part of the investment selection process, we develop the Funding Policy and will prepare the Investment Policy Statement. If requested, Alpha & Omega can also serve as your investment advisory firm.
Document Prep and IRS Filing
When it comes to preparing plan documents and conducting the IRS filing, expert advice is paramount, as even one minor mistake can delay or derail implementation of your plan. To ensure this critical step goes smoothly, Alpha & Omega offers two different approaches:
- Using our own prototype plan documents
- Having our General Counsel draft a custom-designed plan
With each approach, we prepare the plan and trust documents for review by your company and its legal counsel. At your request, we will also prepare all DOL and Internal Revenue Service forms and schedules required for qualification of the plan. These include:
- Application for Determination Letter from the IRS, when required
- Employee census forms
- Power of Attorney forms
- IRS User Fee for Employee Plan Forms
- Compliance Analysis under the current Revenue Procedure
Employee Communication
To maximize enrollment in your benefits plan, employees need to understand the value of the plan and how the plan works. They also need to understand their investment options in order to derive the most value from the plan. Alpha & Omega has decades of experience helping our clients communicate, motivate and encourage their employees to enroll in their plans. Our communication services include:
- Producing copies of summary plan descriptions, letters to employees and other printed materials
- Participating in company meetings to explain the plan benefits or review the plan’s annual activities and performance
- Providing materials in Spanish or other foreign languages as needed
- Providing translators to assist during the initial enrollment meeting
