尽管最近的ERISA 408(b)(2)费用披露规定——原定于7月生效——已被推迟到2012年, as a plan sponsor, are you prepared for the consequences of this sudden dose of transparency?
Make no mistake, plan fee transparency is a good thing, and long overdue. 然而，它确实给计划发起人带来了新的机会和责任. Now that plan fees will be much more visible (even if not more understandable), 参与者和监管机构可能会担心你的计划所支付费用的合理性. So what can you do to prepare for the possible questions?
Understand the Why and How of the Rules
To begin, you must understand the new fee disclosure rules. 其次，你必须了解计划费用是如何支付的，以及你的计划费用是否合理. 最近发布的收费披露规定有三个不同的重点领域.
5500 Details. 第一个收费披露规则是为了向政府提供额外的信息披露，并于2009年生效. However, they apply only to plans with more than 100 participants. Starting in 2009, 表格5500的附表C要求报告更详细的费用信息. Form 5500 is part of the public record, so once filed with the Department of Labor, this information is available to everyone, including participants and other plan vendors.
Vendor Services and Fees. 第二套费用披露规定针对的是计划发起人(也称为408(b)(2))，将于2012年生效. They require that plan vendors make certain disclosures in writing to plan sponsors. 这个想法是，如果计划发起人不知道费用是多少，他们就无法确定费用是否合理. So starting in 2012, 供应商必须以书面形式(除其他事项外)披露其服务的描述以及他们收到的任何直接(由计划支付)或间接(由另一个计划服务提供商支付)补偿.
Administrative and Other Fees. 最后一项费用披露规定是针对计划参与者的，也将于2012年生效. 它要求参与者从其帐户中收到关于一般行政和记录保存服务费用的信息, as well as participant-specific charges, like loan fees and distribution fees. These fees must be disclosed as part of participants’ quarterly statements (presently, most record keepers net the fees from plan earnings).
参与者报表上突然出现的费用将引起参与者的关注，这应该提前预料和解释. 这样做的目的是，如果参与者知道自己账户支付的实际费用数额，并且这些信息很容易获得，他们就能更好地充当监督者.
Know the Fees Paid
If we know how much we are paying for the services we are getting, it is usually pretty simple to make a value determination. The problem with retirement plans is that it is difficult to know what the fees are. 退休计划的费用主要来自三个不同的来源:基金管理费(经营费用比率), 投资顾问费(支付给个人的费用，向计划受托人提供有关计划基金安排的建议), performing enrollment services, 等)和记录保管费(支付给记录保管员维护个人参与者账户的费用), processing distributions, executing investment transactions, etc).
一般来说，这些费用通常是合并的，并以资产的年百分比表示. By combining the fees, 这使得很难确定每个服务和每个提供者支付了多少钱(你是否听说过一个同事声称他们没有为他们的计划支付任何费用)?).
In addition, 供应商通常向其他供应商付款(称为收入分成)，以补偿他们提供的服务. The revenue sharing payments, while included in the total, are completely invisible to plan sponsors, unless disclosed. Even when disclosed, revenue sharing payments create conflicts of interest that, while not illegal, 计划受托人在评估所获服务的质素时应考虑哪些因素.
One example of a conflict is payments from a mutual fund company to a record keeper. 这些付款会影响记录管理人将基金纳入其平台的决定(而不是只考虑基金的质量和适当性)。.
Prepare to Communicate, Compare and Monitor
So what should you do to prepare for fee disclosure? Begin by following these three steps.
Communicate. First, communicate with participants. Let them know that nothing has changed in terms of the fees charged by the plan. The only difference is how they are shown on their statements. Explain what the fees are paid for. 组装401k平台是一项复杂的任务，需要多个组织和学科的协调努力. It is not without cost, but generally, as long as fees are reasonable, 其成本低于个人提供财富管理服务的成本.
Compare. Next, 根据资产和参与人数，将你的计划的费用与其他类似规模的计划进行比较. Ideally, 基准报告应由一个对结果不感兴趣的独立实体编写. There are a number of benchmarking services that have recently become available. Ask your CPA or plan auditor if they offer the service or can provide a reference.
The benchmark report will help you identify all the fees paid by the plan, who is being paid, 任何收入分享安排，并提供每项服务的逐项成本与其他计划的平均成本的比较. 这是确定您是否从供应商那里获得了良好价值的好方法.
In addition to fees, many benchmark reports will identify when proprietary mutual funds are being used. 专有基金存在利益冲突，如果它们的表现相对于同类基金而言不佳，可能会引起关注. 一定要向你的投资顾问要一份基金监测报告，将你的计划的基金与适当的基准和同行群体进行比较.
Monitor. 最后，实施一个持续监控的过程，让计划提供者负起责任. 推荐的最佳做法是每三到五年向其他提供商征求建议，以确保您的计划费用保持竞争力. 并将你就该计划所做的所有决定记录下来，这样你就可以向好奇的参与者和监管机构证明，你正在履行你的受托责任. At the end of the day, the amount of fees that you are paying is not the issue, it is the reasonableness of those fees.
与您的退休计划参与者进行提前规划和沟通，有助于确保顺利过渡到新的ERISA费用披露规定, 或许还能让参与者更好地了解他们计划的费用——正如法规所希望的那样.
Note: This content is accurate as of the date published above and is subject to change. 在就本文所载的任何事项采取行动之前，请寻求专业意见.