30 Sep Zen Superheroes: On the Quest for Better Data.
If you go to The Google and do an image search for retirement, your screen should be filled with pictures of smiling people in beautiful happy places. They don’t have a care in the world, do they? Aaaahhh, Zen.
Obviously, these people weren’t stressed-out, overworked, regulation and compliance-ridden Retirement Plan Sponsors/Administrators or Financial Advisors in a former life, right?
To make those retirement images Zen-filled people include the dedicated behind-the-scenes workers committed to completing every single administrative task associated with running a retirement plan, something has to change.
That’s where the team at TAG Resources steps in, to help retirement plan partners make it to their happy retirement, too. At TAG, we began that journey with the idea of harnessing technology to reinvent the retirement industry and build a foundation where Zen can plop down on his happy hippy cushion or mat and meditate.
From its inception, TAG began changing up the 40+ year history of retirement plans like the 401(k) by implementing innovative data-driven technology processes that are easy to administer and efficiently work to keep our retirement plans consistently compliant and risk managed by using the Bedrock Reporting System™.
Bedrock™ aggregates data from client uploads to create a Zen universe for the Plan Sponsor and that makes the Financial Advisor happy and all of that makes the Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service smile and nod in approval. 😉
Behind the scenes, the Bedrock Reporting System™ pulls off an even bigger feat as it aggregates data to check eligibility, capture rate changes, new loans and hardships, monitor contributions and distributions, determine eligibility, check match amounts, integrates payroll data, monitors for errors and omissions, and with the data gathered from the contribution files from the Plan Sponsors and Recordkeepers, TAG can match their employees with the specifics provided in the sponsor’s plan documents to determine eligibility and check match amounts.
The Bedrock Reporting System™ compares data to ensure compliance with plan documents and 401(k) limits. Every step in the process is time stamped so the complete data cycle is monitored from the payroll date to when the upload files arrive at TAG, to the time the funds are traded at the Recordkeeper.
TAG produces a quarterly Fiduciary Report for each plan in the program and monitors the operational health of the plan to catch minor errors before they expose the plan to possible compliance violations by utilizing data aggregation features of the Bedrock Reporting System™.
TAG, by using the Bedrock Reporting System™, provides Plan Sponsors with peace of mind in knowing that all 401(k) plan notices, eligibility calculations, and payroll contributions are completed in compliance with the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Bedrock™ as used by TAG, is designed to offer services most Third Party Administrators (TPAs) and Recordkeepers are not able to provide. In our 15 year history, TAG has taken control of that area in the retirement industry by integrating TPA services into our offerings as the largest 3(16) Plan Administrator in the country.
Additionally, TAG offers a complete Fiduciary Overlay to Bedrock™, giving client companies full 3(16) Plan Administrator and 3(38) Investment Manager Services. In TAG’s 3(16) Fiduciary Overlay solution, our use of the Bedrock™ system enables TAG to assume the role of the Plan Administrator, as defined under section 3(16) and 3(21) of ERISA. TAG’s 3(16) Fiduciary Overlay solution includes functions pertaining to distributions and hardships, compliance testing and Form 5500 support, as well as assistance with DOL and/or IRS audits.
Without TAG’s Bedrock™ 3(16) Overlay, the burden of these administrative functions would be left to the Plan Sponsor.
With TAG’s 3(38) Investment Overlay solution for Bedrock™, we use alliances with well-known industry leading investment firms including Mercer, IRON Financial, Morningstar, Sageview, Wilshire, Mesirow, and others to remove the burden of choosing and monitoring investment options for plan participants. The investment manager, monitored by TAG, will take the responsibility of performing due diligence, creating the investment options, and providing participant investment advice or Managed Accounts.
When you read through the processes TAG employs using the technological foundation Bedrock™ has built into data integration, the TAG Program is kind of like having super hero powers, isn’t it? Freeing the world from overworked stressed-out retirement Plan Sponsors, specialists, and advisors might just be the next mission for TAG.
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