Conducting your annual plan review - DWS Investments

Establishing a retirement plan committeeIt’s essential to select the right people for your Retirement Plan Committee, and to provide them withthe information they need to help keep your plan viable and effective.THE ROLE OF THE RETIREMENT PLANCOMMITTEE■■Functions as the decision-making body and fiduciaryof the plan■■Helps the plan sponsor meet its fiduciaryresponsibilities to plan participants■■Oversees the plan to meet its obligations as set forthin ERISA■■Provides functional or specific expertise as needed■■Takes the lead in the Plan in Review processA well-structured Retirement Plan Committee canalso help improve the overall management of the planby comparing the total cost of all aspects of the planagainst the services being received.A Retirement Plan Committee can be formedregardless of the size of your organization—committeescan vary in size and structure, and may be comprisedwith as little as one or two individuals representing keyfunctional areas.As a decision-maker for your plan, you know that thelasting quality of a decision ordinarily means gettingthe right facts to the right people. In this case, youneed to make sure that you appoint the appropriatemembers to serve on your Retirement Plan Committee.Because appointing the Retirement Plan Committeeis itself a fiduciary act, it must be handled prudentlyand always with the goal of operating the plan for theexclusive benefit of plan participants.Once the members of the committee are chosen,a plan committee charter should be created. Thischarter should document the purpose, authorityand responsibilities of the committee, includingthe frequency of meetings, rules, procedures andcommittee resources. Likewise, each meeting anddecision made with respect to plan committeemembers should also be documented.A Retirement Plan Committee comprised of qualifiedmembers, supported by a robust mandate, anddocumented processes can together help provide oneof the chief defenses against fiduciary liability.The role of the Retirement Plan Committee is typically tohelp the plan sponsor meet its fiduciary responsibilitiesto plan participants. The Retirement Plan Committeefunctions as both the decision-making body andfiduciary of the plan. Committee members should beable to meet the obligations of ERISA and providefunctional or specific expertise to the committee, whichimproves its collective capacity as a fiduciary.Conducting your annual plan review » 3