Paychex, Inc., ranked as one of the nation's largest 401(k) record keepers according to PLANSPONSOR magazine's 2011 Record-Keeping survey, has announced the launch of Paychex Advisor Select 401(k) Plan, a new offering that is specifically designed for fee-based financial and investment advisors. 

 

By working with a client's preferred investment advisor, Paychex brings features and services to businesses that have historically only been available to larger corporations, including open-architecture investment access to multiple fund families and an unmatched level of fee transparency, Paychex officials say.

 

"By expanding our platform to actively support fee-based financial advisors, Paychex  continues to lead the industry in how small business owners, their employees, and now their advisors evaluate and perceive a company's workplace retirement savings plans," said Paul Davidson, director of product management at Paychex.

 

The Rochester, New York–based company is also the preferred provider of 401(k) services through the AICPA Firm-Based Member Retirement Program.

 

According to Paychex officials, Paychex Advisor Select 401(k) is "concession neutral" and conflict free, meaning that Paychex does not retain any form of revenue share payments that are routinely provided by mutual funds. 

 

"For accountants, Paychex Advisor Select 401(k) provides an outstanding level of fee transparency as well as the return of concessions to the fund participants," said Rich Brindisi, retirement services product marketing manager for Paychex. "Concessions are a pool of funds used to pay plan expenses and are charged to fund participants by the specific mutual fund and passed along to entities in the 401(k) process (e.g., third-party administrators, record keepers, etc.) that are necessary in the operation of 401(k)."

 

Brindisi said, "The return of these concessions allows accountants to track plan costs more accurately for their clients and to conduct periodic due diligence reviews of plan costs and functionality against the market to ensure clients have the most suitable plan for their specific business."

 

"By returning those fees back to the plan at the participant level, Paychex enables advisors to assemble an unbiased menu of investment options for their clients, while allowing participants to save for retirement in a fee-friendly environment," Davidson said.

 

In addition, Paychex Advisor Select 401(k) provides online account administration for both employer-plan sponsors and their employee-plan participants.

 

Tools available to plan participants include:

Features available to plan sponsors include: