Plan Administration and Management

Standard Administration Services

Certain administrative functions are applicable to every retirement or deferred compensation plan, regardless of type, features or choice of investment approaches. Spectrum performs these functions on a routine basis. They include some or all of:

periodically requesting and obtaining current employee and payroll data;
editing of all source data (changes reconciled and unexpected variances or suspected errors flagged and reported);
determination of eligible employees based on plan provisions and employer payroll records; processing new participant's enrollment elections, as applicable, under automatic enrollment provisions; accumulation and maintenance of all data needed to maintain individual accounts or benefit entitlements, provide management information and satisfy legal requirements.
crediting individual employee and employer matching contributions to participants' accounts in accordance with plan provisions and participants' individual elections;
maintenance of multiple investment fund accounts by each separate source, including employee and employer contributions, rollovers and elective deferrals;
calculation of employer's plan contributions based on the combination of employer wishes and legal limits on the amounts of compensation, contributions and benefits;
determination of the plan's 'Top Heavy' status and completion of 410(b) 'Minimum Coverage Test', in accordance with applicable federal regulations;
performance of applicable non-discrimination testing;
allocation of employer contributions and, if applicable, forfeitures, to the accounts of individual participants, in accordance with applicable plan provisions;
allocation of investment gains and/or losses to individual participant's accounts;
preparation of Summary Annual Reports, as required by Section 403 of the Employee retirement Income Security Act of 1974;
verification of employer and employee contributions based on employer confirmations and moneys received the plan trustee(s);
preparation of comprehensive plan quarterly and/or annual reports, detailing all aspects of plan operation, including changes in participation, compliance with legal requirements, financial statements, and investments;
preparation of Annual Return of Employee Benefit Plan (IRS Form 5500) and related schedules and all other legally required reports and governmental filings, including 1099Rs, unless provided by others;
preparation of quarterly and/or annual individual participant benefit statements detailing changes in accounts, including contributions, investment gains and losses, account balances, accrued benefits and vested status;
calculation of benefit for terminated participants and preparation of statements of termination benefits;
calculation of alternative benefit entitlements and production of statements of retirement benefits for retiring participants;
processing distributions to terminated and retired participants, in accordance with their elections; and
where applicable, provision of data to auditors for annual plan audits.

In addition, as a standard part of its services, Spectrum meets with each client annually or, if appropriate, on a semi-annual or quarterly basis, depending on each client's situation. These meetings are held in order to discuss: changes in client circumstances; business trends; proposed or final regulatory changes; anticipated or enacted changes in legislation; and/or other client issues.