1. Many business owners realize that their company’s 401(k) plan is out-of-date, and that changes are needed. However they are busy with other projects and don’t really have the time to address the issue.
2. If this describes your predicament, we can do a review of your 401(k) plan. All we’d need is someone (perhaps in H.R.) to provide us with a few documents which will then allow us to evaluate both the investment choices available to participants and the plan’s structure. Those documents are:
   1. Menu of investment choices;
   2. Summary Plan Description;
   3. Third Party Administrator (TPA) charges and fees.
3. If we determine that your plan is good and compliant with current regulations, we will tell you so. However, 401(k) plans are a lot like laptop computers: If they’re more than a few years old they’re outdated. If we find deficiencies, we’ll explain to you what they are with a minimal amount of your time spent, and outline a way forward.
4. Our evaluation is complimentary, so there’s nothing for you to lose by going through our process.

What is a Fee-Only advisor?

Fee-Only advisors are compensated solely by the Plan Sponsor/participants in this type of 401(k) Plan. From the client’s point of view, some of the advantages of a fee-only model are:

1. Since 5^th Street receives no compensation from any mutual funds/index funds, it has no incentive to "push product." This makes us completely objective when choosing investment vehicles.
2. The more money in the plan, the more money 5^th Street earns. Since our fees are determined by assets under management, this gets the incentives right and eliminates conflicts-of-interest.
3. Since we are paid only by our clients, there is never any question that our loyalty is solely to our clients.
4. Unlike broker/dealer or insurance platforms, as a Fee-Only adviser, we are able to give investment advice to participants.

What is an "Open Architecture" platform and what are its advantages?

1. A system in which a Plan Sponsor can choose from a huge array of mutual funds/index funds from multiple fund companies/managers with no extra charges;
2. It allows 5^th Street to select best-in-class investment alternatives for participants;
3. Since we receive no compensation other than our management fee, it is in our interest to select the fund share class with the lowest fee charged by the fund manager.
4. 5^th Street’s platform provides retirement plan solutions that minimize many of the excessive costs of offering a qualified retirement plan to employees.

What is Fiduciary Duty and why is it so important?

1. As a Registered Investment Advisor, (RIA), 5^th Street is legally required to have a fiduciary relationship with our clients. A Fiduciary is a person who has a legal and ethical duty to act in the best interests of another person. Other 401(k) providers such as brokerage firms and insurance companies do not have the same level of fiduciary duty to plan sponsors or participants. Brokers, agents and registered representatives are paid commission; as a Registered Investment Advisor, 5^th Street is legally obligated to focus on providing impartial, professional advice.
2. A fiduciary standard calls for plan providers to act solely in the best interest of the client, which means finding the best product at the lowest price.
3. Broker/Dealers are held to suitability standard which calls for plan providers to only recommend products that are suitable for their clients within an acceptable price range.
4. Advice given under a suitability standard may be heavily influenced by internal pressure to promote proprietary products, sales competitions, higher commission payouts, etc.

What are some potential liabilities plan sponsors face?

1. ERISA law deems all key employees and anyone named as a principal on the plan to be automatically considered fiduciaries.
2. Plan sponsors are required by law to act with prudence; the prudence that must be demonstrated, in regard to investment decisions, must rise to that of an expert.
3. Investment decisions include investment options, quality of funds, fund expenses and plan expenses.
4. Most fiduciaries of 401(k) plans lack this expertise and therefore should hire an investment adviser that is held to a fiduciary standard.