I can’t tell you how many times I hear this from plan sponsors: “The plan is fine. No one’s complaining.”
Silence is not a fiduciary audit.
Participants rarely complain about fees they don’t understand, investment lineups they didn’t choose, or administrative errors they can’t see. A quiet plan is often just a disengaged plan. And disengagement is not a compliance strategy.
When was the last time your committee benchmarked recordkeeping fees? Not glanced at a report — actually benchmarked them. When did you last review your investment policy statement and compare it to what’s actually in the lineup? Do your target-date funds reflect your workforce demographics, or are they there because they were “good enough” ten years ago?
Fiduciary responsibility under ERISA isn’t about reacting to problems. It’s about process. Documented, consistent, thoughtful process.
Markets fluctuate. That’s normal. But stale governance is avoidable. If your committee meets once a year to rubber-stamp reports, that’s not oversight — that’s ceremonial.
I’ve seen plans that were “fine” for years until a DOL investigator asked for meeting minutes, fee benchmarking reports, and service agreements. Suddenly “fine” turned into “we meant to get to that.”
The absence of complaints is not evidence of prudence. It’s often evidence that no one is looking closely.
If you’re a plan sponsor, assume your plan is not fine until you can prove it is — with documentation, benchmarking, and regular review.
Quiet plans don’t stay quiet forever.
