Defined Contribution Plan Services

Administrative Considerations

Compared to the routine offerings of most daily valuation providers, BPA achieves a higher standard by delivering a more complete solution to your company's retirement plan:

• Eligibility - BPA receives a census file with each payroll cycle, reads the data in edit mode, updates employee vesting, and calculates eligibility and entry dates for each money source (we support plans with multiple entry dates). At this point, BPA will deliver to Human Resources a list of employees becoming eligible to participate as of the next entry date.
• Online enrollment and contribution rate changes - all new employees eligible for the plan are issued a PIN. The employee uses his or her PIN to access the website or voice response unit, select a deferral rate, and provide their investment elections by fund. (The initial PIN is the last four digits of the employee's SSN, but must be reassigned at the first login). Human Resources retrieves a file from the plan sponsor site before each pay cycle which contains any deferral rate changes; this file is imported into the payroll system to effect the necessary adjustments. Note: this file incorporates salary deferral elections for new participants as well as deferral rate changes for existing participants.
• Vesting updates with each contribution cycle - facilitates the automated processing of loans and distributions, and gives participants the most accurate, up-to-date information throughout the year.
• Online forms and information - BPA includes a wide variety of reports on the participant website including beneficiary forms, the Summary Plan Description, a Voice Response and web map, quarterly newsletter, performance summary and other key documents. The idea is to provide a comprehensive array of information and tools in one convenient location.
• Monitoring for 402(g) violations and other issues - BPA reads and edits each census before notifying the employer of the amount to be funded. Should problematic data be detected, such as a 402(g) violation or contribution from an ineligible participant, BPA will notify HR of the discrepancy and resolve before trades are made.
• Proactive Approach to Compliance Tesitng - BPA takes a consultative, hands-on approach to help avoid or mitigate the impact of ADP, ACP, and other testing failures.
• Able to restate and maintain all plan documents - having one firm administer the plan and be responsible for maintaining and updating plan documents provides greater accountability and simplicity. We think this is the best solution in today's complex and continuously changing regulatory environment.
• Continuous upgrades and enhancements - BPA has both the commitment and programming resources to continuously upgrade the retirement plan experience for participants and plan sponsors. Let us put this expertise to work for you!