This information includes the number of plan participants and plan assets as of a specified date. Consider the specific services you would like provided. For example, the types and frequency of reports to employer, communications to participants, educational materials and meetings for participants and the availability and frequency of participant investment transfers, the level of responsibility you want the prospective service provider to assume, what services must be included and what are possible extras or customized services, and optional features such as loans, Internet trading and telephone transfers. Make informed decisions in selecting and monitoring your plan service providers and investments. Fees are just one of several factors you need to consider in your decision making.
All services have costs.
Compare all services to be provided with the total cost for each prospective provider. Consider obtaining estimates from more than one service provider before making your decision. Cheaper is not necessarily better. Ask each prospective provider to be specific about which services are covered for the estimated fees and which are not. To help in gathering this information and in making equivalent comparisons, you may want to use the same format for each prospective provider.