What we offer / 3(38) fiduciary management

Fiduciary services

The investment risk, off your plate.

As your 3(38) investment manager, we take discretionary responsibility for selecting and monitoring the plan's investments — and the legal liability that comes with it.

ERISA 3(38) investment manager

Discretion means the buck stops with us.

Under ERISA, whoever selects and monitors a plan's investments carries fiduciary liability for those decisions. Most sponsors carry that risk without realizing it — or with an advisor who only recommends, leaving the final call, and the liability, on the sponsor.

As a 3(38) investment manager, we accept that responsibility in writing. We build and manage the lineup with full discretion, document every decision to a formal Investment Policy Statement, and stand behind it — so the sponsor is relieved of investment-selection liability.

01 | What we take on

Discretionary, documented, defensible.

Investment selection

We choose the plan’s fund lineup with full discretion — the decision, and its liability, sit with us, not the sponsor.

Ongoing monitoring

Quarterly review of every fund against a formal Investment Policy Statement, with documented replace-or-retain decisions.

Documented governance

A written IPS and a decision trail that demonstrates a prudent process if the plan is ever examined.

Named in writing

We are the named 3(38) investment manager on the plan documents, accepting the role expressly and in writing.

02 | Know the difference

3(38) vs 3(21) — who holds the risk.

Both are fiduciary roles, but only one moves discretion — and liability — off the sponsor. We serve as your 3(38).

What we provide 3(38) manager

Discretion to select and change investments

Investment-selection liability transfers to us

Sponsor is relieved of the prudent-selection duty

Decisions executed, not just recommended

The common alternative 3(21) advisor

Recommends investments to the sponsor

Sponsor makes the final decision

Fiduciary liability stays with the sponsor

Advice only — no discretionary authority

03 | How a lineup is assembled

A menu built by asset class, not by fund pitch.

We start from the coverage your participant population needs and fill each slot with the best-scoring option available on your recordkeeping platform. Watch it come together.

Investment policy statement Required asset-class coverage · quantitative scoring criteria · watch and removal rules

U.S. equity

MID

VALUE

BLEND

GROWTH

Nine style slots — large, mid and small across value, blend and growth.

International equity

MID

VALUE

BLEND

GROWTH

Developed and emerging markets, sized to avoid overlap with the U.S. sleeve.

Fixed income

HIGH

MED

LOW

LTD

MOD

EXT

Credit quality by duration — core, short and a diversifying credit sleeve.

Capital preservation One money market or stable value option anchoring the low end of the risk range.

Specialty sleeves Real assets or a sector fund only where the committee has a documented reason to include one.

Target-date series · QDIA One decision for the participant who doesn't want to make nine

Income 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050 2055 2060 2065 2070

Coverage complete. Every slot is now scored against the IPS each quarter, and nothing enters or leaves without a documented reason. 29investments

Illustrative structure using broad asset classes. Actual counts and categories vary by plan size, platform, and committee direction.

04 | Quarterly monitoring

The report is your fiduciary file.

Every quarter each investment is re-scored against the IPS criteria and flagged: proposed, watch, or remove. Your committee gets the same document we act on — dated and filed, so the process is provable years later.

Quarterly Monitoring Report Sample

Investment data as of quarter end · holdings as of prior year end PProposed WWatch RRemove

Asset allocation summary

Broad asset class # Investments

U.S. equity 9

International equity 2

Sector equity 2

Allocation (target date) 12

Taxable bond 3

Money market 1

Total 29

Watch list this quarter No investments currently on watch. When one is, the report carries the reason, the quarters it has failed, and the replacement candidate.

Trailing performance Three- and five-year returns against the fund’s peer group, not a headline index.

Risk-adjusted return Sharpe ratio and alpha, so a fund isn’t rewarded for simply taking more risk.

Style consistency Does the fund still sit in the style box it was hired to fill, or has it drifted?

Expense ratio Percentile within the peer group, plus a check that the plan is in the lowest available share class.

Manager tenure Whether the people who produced the track record are still running the fund.

Fund viability Asset size and flows — small, shrinking funds get closed or merged, usually at the worst time.

Qualitative review Process changes, organizational events, and anything the numbers can’t show yet.

05 | How oversight runs

A disciplined, repeating cycle.

Accept the roleWe are named the 3(38) investment manager in the plan documents and adopt a formal Investment Policy Statement.

Build the lineupWe construct a prudent, low-cost core menu and default investment aligned to the IPS.

Monitor quarterlyEvery fund is scored against IPS criteria, with documented decisions to retain or replace.

Report & reviewSponsors receive written fiduciary reporting and an annual review of the lineup and process.

06 | FAQ

Fiduciary questions, answered.

Stop carrying investment risk alone.

We'll review your current fiduciary structure and show you exactly which liabilities move to us as your 3(38) manager.