Any Individual or entity with discretionary authority over a 401(k) plan’s administration or investments is considered a “fiduciary” to that plan.

401(k) plan fiduciaries ordinarily include the employer, trustees, administrators, investment advisers and investment managers.

Attorneys, accountants, recordkeepers, brokers and insurance agents are generally not fiduciaries.

The key to determining whether an individual or an entity is a fiduciary is whether they can exercise discretionary control over your plan – a fiduciary title is not required. Generally, the employer is their 401(k) plan’s primary fiduciary.

Fiduciaries are in a position of trust with respect to the participants and beneficiaries in the plan. A fiduciary’s responsibilities include:

• acting solely in the interest of the participants and their beneficiaries;
• acting for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to workers participating in the plan and their beneficiaries, and defraying reasonable expenses of the plan;
• carrying out duties with the care, skill, prudence and diligence of a prudent person familiar with the matters;
• following the plan documents; and
• diversifying plan investments.

KISC employees are trained as AIF^®, an Accredited Investment Fiduciary^®. As such, they beleive in the ongoing quality review process of:

1. Organize
2. Formalize
3. Implement
4. Monitor, and
5. Repeat.

The Fi360 approach designates practices within each of the above concepts. KISC, over time, works with its Fiduciary clients to improve their processes.

One of the most important considerations is to always review actions and decisions under the lens of the first Fiduciary Responsibility which is: acting solely in the interest of the participants and their beneficiaries. This view changes a lot of what the industry considers important!