Retirement Plans for Small Business
Customized small business 401(k) plans can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent — and for maximizing owner contributions.
Underwhelmed by Your 401(k) plan or provider?
If you’re a company of less than 100 employees with a growing 401(k) plan wanting to offer a tax-efficient way to save for retirement, our all-in-one, small business 401(k) solution is for you.
AMG helps you offer a retirement plan that is truly customized for your employee population and business goals — without administrative hassles.
A Single Point of Contact
When a company sponsors a 401(k) plan for its employees, it typically involves several service providers to ensure the smooth functioning and compliance of the plan.
Not when you work with AMG.
We understand that small businesses don’t have the time, budget or specialized knowledge to independently manage a 401(k) plan.
With AMG, you will have a dedicated retirement plan specialist who coordinates all aspects of your company’s plan, including the following key functions:
- Recordkeeping. Documenting individual participant accounts, processing contributions and distributions, and supplying online access for employees to manage their investments.
- Compliance. Compliance testing and ensuring that the plan adheres to IRS regulations and files annual reports, e.g., IRS Form 5500.
- Investment Research and Selection. Designing the plan’s investment menu and periodically reviewing and recommending changes to the investment options.
- Custody. Holding and safeguarding the assets of the 401(k) plan and ensuring that the investments selected by participants are appropriately executed and secure.
- Employee Educator. Conducting retirement planning seminars, webinars, or workshops to educate employees about their 401(k) plan and retirement saving strategies.
Small Business Retirement Plans
SECURE 2.0 Act Sweetens the Pot
- Compare retirement plans for self-employed individuals and small-business owners
- Learn about the key features of SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022
—Karen, Vice President & Comptroller, Retirement Plan Services client
—Glenn, Chief Operating Officer
RETIREMENT PLAN ADMINISTRATION DETAILS
AMG retirement plan administration services for small businesses helps you customize a 401(k) plan unique to your goals with independent and objective advice—and complete fee transparency.
As a 401(k)-plan sponsor, it is essential to have an expert available to help you perform your fiduciary responsibilities. Partnering with AMG helps you effectively manage ERISA requirements and minimize administrative burdens.
Popular features of AMG retirement plan administration services include:
- Bespoke plan design. Experienced, qualified retirement plan specialists will help you design a plan with the features that best suit your business needs, author plan documents, maintain compliance with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) law and provide fiduciary oversight.
- Annual compliance testing and Form 5500 preparation. Your retirement plan specialist will help monitor Internal Revenue Service (IRS) non-discrimination testing, unless your plan includes Safe Harbor provisions, and produce Form 5500 tax forms for your review and filing.
- Unbundled fees. You get full cost transparency with a stated fee for services and an invoice credit for any mutual fund revenue-sharing payments.
- Unbiased investment advice. We can partner with you as a discretionary trustee, responsible for the selection and decisions on investment options. We are unbiased in our investment advice, able to recommend unaffiliated, passive and active mutual funds—using share classes with low expense ratios.
- Custody of plan assets. With AMG acting as custodian for plan assets, you have one point of contact for any flow of funds and benefit from our rigorous compliance protocols for transaction accuracy.
- Payroll integration. Reduce errors and avoid manual downloads. You run payroll as normal, and the file is electronically transferred for plan administration.
- Employee engagement. From new employee enrollment to annual participant education meetings to managing contributions, loans and distributions, AMG’s retirement specialists help your employees appreciate the plan features you chose specifically for them and help you administer them.
- Online participant portal and plan sponsor reporting. Your employees have online, phone and mobile access to personal accounts through an engaging and educational website. Simple tools provide retirement projections, plan facts and investment information.
—Trish R., Controller, 100-125 Employee Population
In 2018, I became Controller at a small business in the commercial and residential real estate industry. At the time, we were so small we did not have a 401(k) plan. I immediately contacted AMG to get a plan up and running, and have been extremely happy with our relationship.
AMG is a 100% full-service organization. They are knowledgeable, customer-service oriented, and manage every aspect of our 401(k) plan — from employee eligibility notices, weekly reporting, compliance needs, plan summary distribution, census needs, assisting with audit information, and the Form 5500 filing.
I wouldn’t consider another service provider for our 401(k) plan — and if I ever end up working for a different company, I will pursue AMG for that plan as well."
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What kinds of businesses can transfer to an AMG small business 401(k) plan?
Any kind of business offering a 401(k) retirement plan to its employees may be eligible to transfer to an AMG small-business 401(k) plan. We specialize in 401(k) plans for small businesses with under 100 employees.
Do you offer Safe Harbor 401(k) plans?
AMG offers traditional employer match and safe harbor 401(k) plans, the latter of which must meet specific plan design requirements. For example, safe harbor 401(k) plans must meet certain notice requirements and immediately vest employer contributions when made, among other things. A safe harbor 401(k) would not be subject to annual nondiscrimination tests and may be exempted from section 416 of the Internal Revenue Code’s special rules for top-heavy plans.
Do you act as 401(k) plan fiduciary?
Yes, AMG acts as a 3(38)-plan fiduciary, acting as custodian and discretionary trustee. We also help plan sponsors reduce some of their fiduciary risk and workload from ongoing plan management by:
- Drafting required notices.
- Conducting annual plan testing and reporting.
- Preparing the annual Form 5500 filing.
- Facilitating, monitoring and reconciling the flow of funds.
- Issuing distribution checks.
Do you offer investment advice?
AMG can act as a 3(38)-plan fiduciary and trustee. In this role, AMG provides plan sponsors with investment research and reporting that supports investment management decisions yet is delegated authority to implement recommendations, make buy and sell decisions, and has discretionary authority to implement recommendations, making buy and sell decisions.
What investments are available?
At AMG, our investment recommendations are based on extensive research and analysis, decades of market experience, and most importantly, each client’s specific goals.
We follow global economies closely to understand their impact on market behavior and analyze the likelihood and impact of different outcomes. Using our sophisticated economic inputs, we estimate forward-looking expected returns and risk characteristics for asset classes.
We also have quantitative and qualitative screening process to identify potential passive and active ETFs and mutual funds within these asset classes suitable for our retirement plan clients. Typical managers have investment philosophies and strategies to help them to navigate volatile markets, have shown success balancing return potential with capital preservation, and take a long-term approach to investing. We define these managers as “best-of-breed,” and they comprise our “Select List.”
For small business 401(k) plans, we recommend a subset of our Select List, emphasizing those ETFs and mutual funds with low-cost share classes and limited revenue sharing. We also offer asset allocation portfolios—target date or target risk—which reflect our best thinking and are systematically rebalanced. These multi-asset portfolios are designed to help plan participants meet their retirement savings goals through a single. convenient allocation decision.
What is included in the fee for AMG retirement plan administration services?
We seek to offer a competitive fee that includes all our services such as recordkeeping, plan administration, investment advice, asset custody, and participant education. Clients are billed quarterly in arrears and receive a complete and transparent statement of the structure of fees paid.
Do you offer ERISA insurance coverage or audit services?
No, AMG does not sell or underwrite any insurance policies.
No, AMG does not conduct plan audits. However, AMG offers extensive audit support to plans required to be audited due to their size, which generally is included in our fee.
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