Firms Partner to Provide Fee Disclosure Solution

According to CRI, the partnership aims to support its flagship AXIS Retirement Plan Analytic Platform (AXIS), which addresses the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) mandated section 408(b)(2) fee disclosure requirements. A press release said MIRA’s Fiduciary Analytics Consulting Services (FACS, LLC) will provide dedicated 408(b)(2) and independent fiduciary support and oversight integrated with AXIS’ data processing and reporting services for broker dealer (BD) and registered investment adviser (RIA) firms in support of the new Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 408(b)(2) regulations.

ERISA §404(a) and §408(b)(2) require fiduciaries to evaluate whether service/cost arrangements with 401(k) providers are reasonable. According to the announcement, FACS provides assurance of these facts for every 401(k) plan.

The service will provide plan setup and review of every plan and fund lineup, including benchmarking services to ensure that each plan service provider arrangement is fully ERISA compliant. The service will also provide support for representatives and advisers that are servicing each plan.

“We recognize that Investment Advisor relationships and compensation will be scrutinized under 408(b)(2) and 404(a)(5),” stated Rick Canipe and James Holland, principals of FACS, in the announcement. “ This tool will arm them with the cost and service benchmarks needed to demonstrate their value to retain and take market share. Beyond that, AXIS can also quickly identify those plans that are vulnerable.”

–Sara Kelly