They always say that you should never judge a book by its cover, I agree every time I look in the mirror. As a plan sponsor and a fiduciary of a retirement plan, one important thing is about keeping up appearances in addition in being prudent in exercising your fiduciary responsibility.
That means when it comes to running the plan, you need to make sure that nothing looks improper. Sometimes things don’t look right or proper even if it is. The problem is that your interpretation that what everyone thinks looks bad isn’t, may not be the prevailing view.
One thing I always think looks improper is the sham of selecting an advisor because they’re related to someone or they are connected with a bank or advisory firm that does business with the plan sponsor outside of the retirement plan. As a plan sponsor, you need to make sure there is a process in place that isn’t a sham in selecting plan providers. You cant select an advisor just because they’re related to someone or because the advisor is with a bank that you do business with.
Perception is everything and any little ting you do with the plan in terms of administration had to look on the up and up. You cant afford to have a[appearances give people the wrong idea.
