Introducing

Fiduciary Essentials for Defined Contribution Plans (FEDC)

Is your company’s retirement plan meeting its obligations to employees? If you’re in a decisionmaking role on behalf of your company’s plan, it’s your legal responsibility to ensure that decisions are being made in the best interests of plan participants. What’s more, as a fiduciary you may be personally liable for the decisions made by the plan. With increasing legal and regulatory pressure on plan fiduciaries, now is the time for comprehensive fiduciary education. With that in mind, Appleton Group’s Fiduciary Essentials for Defined Contribution Plans (FEDC) is an ideal way to better understand the fiduciary role and how to carry out fiduciary responsibilities.

What is FEDC?

  • Fiduciary Essentials for Defined Contribution Plans is a training course built for retirement plan fiduciaries and others involved in the investment process.

  • Developed by the fiduciary experts at Fi360 and delivered by qualified instructors who have earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation.

  • The course covers the scope of fiduciary responsibilities and what plan fiduciaries need to do to fulfill those duties to the standard of care required by law.

  • Completion of the FEDC program online and delivered direct from Fi360 is approved for CE credit with Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Sponsors Need Fiduciary Training

49%

don’t consider themselves fiduciaries (1)

38%

are concerned about fiduciary responsibilities (2)

67%

are asking advisors about litigation risks (3)

76%

are interested in the topic of fiduciary responsibilities (4)

Sources:

(1) Inside the Minds of Plan Sponsors. Alliance Bernstein, 2017.
(2) Plan Sponsor Attitudes Study. Fidelity, 2016.
(3) Fi360 webinar poll, November 29, 2017; www.fi360.com/resources/webinars/regulators-the-courts-and-the-fiduciary-standard-whats-happened-whats-happe
(4) 2019 RPRS Plan Sponsor Survey. Xponential Growth Solutions, 2019.

Many plan sponsors, stewards and investment committee members are unaware of their fiduciary duties and responsibilities. Appleton Group’s Fiduciary Essentials for Defined Contribution Plans course instructs plan fiduciaries and others involved in the investment process on how they can improve their fiduciary decision-making by exploring the full scope of their responsibilities and minimizing liability through a clear understanding of how to fulfill those duties to the standard of care required by law.

Appleton Group will help you…

  • Understand your role as an investment fiduciary

  • Select and work with qualified advisors and plan service providers

  • Reduce and manage risk and personal liability

  • Implement a decision-making process focused on helping plan participants achieve their retirement goals

  • Create training documentation for your fiduciary file