.png){kind=spacer}
Fiduciary Plan Design to Improve Retirement Outcomes
Oversight and design guidance to strengthen participant engagement, optimize investment lineups, and support employees' long-term financial preparedness.
Retirement Plan Advisory
Explore our fiduciary advisory services for employer-sponsored retirement plans. Select a service below to preview our approach — then visit the full page for a deeper look.
Retirement Plans Designed to Attract, Retain, and Reward
A well-designed defined contribution plan is one of the most powerful tools a business has — for recruiting top talent, reducing turnover, creating tax advantages for owners, and building long-term financial security for every participant. Most plans fail not because the concept is wrong, but because the design is lazy.
Bull Run Investment Management, LLC ("BRIM") is a fee-only Registered Investment Adviser (CRD #306763) that serves as plan investment advisor and ERISA Section 3(38) discretionary investment fiduciary. BRIM designs the plan, selects and monitors investments, benchmarks fees, and delivers participant education.
The Retirement Plan Company, LLC ("TRPC") is BRIM's administration partner — one of the nation's leading independent recordkeepers and third-party administrators, headquartered in Nashville, TN, serving over 7,000 qualified retirement plans with $3B+ in assets since 1992. TRPC is a partner firm of Daybright Financial (formerly U.S. Retirement & Benefits Partners). TRPC handles daily-valuation recordkeeping, plan document preparation, nondiscrimination testing, Form 5500 filings, and the participant portal where your employees manage their accounts.
Together, BRIM and TRPC deliver what bundled payroll providers can't — a plan built specifically for your business with fiduciary-quality investment oversight and institutional-grade administration behind it.
What Defined Contribution Services Includes
We don't just recommend a plan — we design it, manage the investments, monitor compliance, and educate your participants. TRPC handles the recordkeeping and administration behind the scenes. Together, it's an end-to-end solution.
Plan Design & Document Drafting
Building the plan from scratch — eligibility, vesting schedules, matching formulas, profit sharing allocation methods, Roth provisions, loan policies, and hardship withdrawal rules tailored to your business objectives. TRPC prepares and maintains the formal plan document and handles all IRS-required restatements.
Investment Menu Construction
Building a diversified, low-cost investment lineup using institutional share classes on TRPC's open-architecture platform — which supports any mutual fund and ETF, not just proprietary options. Quarterly performance reviews with replacement recommendations when funds underperform.
3(38) Fiduciary Services
BRIM serves as a discretionary investment fiduciary under ERISA Section 3(38) — meaning we take on the legal responsibility for investment selection and monitoring, removing that liability from the plan sponsor's shoulders entirely.
Fee Benchmarking & Negotiation
We benchmark every fee layer — recordkeeper, TPA, investment, and advisory — against industry standards. TRPC is known for fee transparency and competitive pricing, and we negotiate on your behalf to ensure participants aren't overpaying.
Compliance & Testing
TRPC's ASPPA-credentialed team handles all annual nondiscrimination testing (ADP/ACP), coverage testing, top-heavy analysis, contribution limit monitoring, year-end trust reconciliation, and Form 5500 preparation — coordinated with BRIM to ensure plan design stays compliant.
Participant Education & Portal
BRIM provides enrollment support, investment education workshops, and one-on-one participant meetings. Employees access their accounts through TRPC's participant portal and My Plan Admin mobile app — with account management tools, investment education, and real-time balance tracking.
How We Build & Manage Your Retirement Plan
Whether you're launching a new plan or overhauling an existing one, our process is structured to ensure nothing is missed — from initial design through ongoing fiduciary oversight, with BRIM and TRPC working as a coordinated team.
Plan Assessment & Benchmarking
We audit your current plan — or model a new one — benchmarking fees, investment options, plan design, and participation metrics against industry standards. If you have an existing recordkeeper, we evaluate whether TRPC's open-architecture platform offers better economics and flexibility.
Plan Design & Document Preparation
We design every plan feature — eligibility, matching, vesting, Roth, loans, hardship — around your business goals and employee demographics. TRPC then prepares the formal plan document, ensuring tax-qualified status and compliance with current IRS regulations.
Investment Menu & IPS Construction
We build a diversified investment lineup on TRPC's open-architecture platform and formalize an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) governing selection criteria, monitoring thresholds, and replacement triggers — the fiduciary framework for ongoing oversight.
Implementation & Enrollment
TRPC sets up the recordkeeping platform, participant accounts, and payroll feeds. BRIM runs enrollment campaigns, investment education sessions, and hands-on onboarding. For plan conversions, TRPC coordinates asset transfers and blackout period communications.
Ongoing Fiduciary Oversight
BRIM conducts quarterly investment reviews, annual fee benchmarking, and fiduciary committee meetings. TRPC handles nondiscrimination testing, trust reconciliation, Form 5500 preparation, and participant account administration — all coordinated through a single advisory relationship.
Plans Designed for Every Stage of Business
Your retirement plan should reflect where your business is today and where it's headed. These are the most common scenarios we help employers navigate — each requiring a different design approach.
First-Time Plan Launch
New businesses establishing their first retirement plan — navigating SECURE Act 2.0 tax credits (up to $5,000/year for three years), choosing between 401(k), SIMPLE, and SEP options, and onboarding onto TRPC's platform with payroll integration from day one.
Plan Overhaul & Platform Migration
Companies outgrowing their initial plan — converting from a SIMPLE or SEP to a full 401(k), migrating from a bundled payroll-provider to TRPC's open-architecture recordkeeping, or adding Roth, profit-sharing, and auto-enrollment features.
Owner Contribution Maximization
Mature businesses where the primary goal is maximizing tax-deferred contributions for owners and key employees — through profit sharing, new comparability formulas, and layered designs that direct the largest possible allocations to principals while TRPC manages the testing.
Multi-Plan & Layered Strategy
Employers combining a 401(k) with a Cash Balance Plan, adding a non-qualified deferred compensation arrangement, or managing multiple entities with controlled group testing. TRPC provides the actuarial services and administration for DB/DC combination plans.
The Disciplines We Manage on Your Behalf
Running a retirement plan means accepting fiduciary responsibility under ERISA. BRIM handles the investment side, TRPC handles the administrative side — together, we cover every compliance and governance discipline so you can focus on running your business.
ERISA 3(38) Investment Management
As a 3(38) investment manager, BRIM assumes discretionary authority over investment selection — legally taking on the fiduciary liability that would otherwise rest on the plan sponsor's shoulders.
Nondiscrimination Testing
TRPC's experienced administrators handle ADP/ACP testing, top-heavy testing, coverage testing, Section 415 limit monitoring, and year-end trust reconciliation — with ASPPA-credentialed professionals averaging 15+ years of industry experience.
Investment Policy Statement
BRIM drafts and maintains a formal IPS documenting the plan's investment philosophy, selection criteria, monitoring benchmarks, and replacement triggers — the foundational governance document that demonstrates prudent fiduciary process.
Form 5500 & Audit Support
TRPC prepares the annual Form 5500 filing, Schedule C fee disclosures, and coordinates the required annual audit for plans over 100 participants — ensuring every filing deadline is met and every disclosure is accurate.
Fee Benchmarking & Transparency
Annual fee analysis comparing recordkeeper, TPA, investment, and advisory costs against industry databases. TRPC has long embraced fee transparency as an essential element of fiduciary responsibility — and BRIM ensures every cost layer is documented and competitive.
Participant Portal & Mobile Access
TRPC's participant website and My Plan Admin mobile app give employees real-time access to account balances, contribution changes, investment elections, loan requests, distribution processing, and industry-leading retirement education tools.
One Team, Managing Every Layer of Your Plan
BRIM and TRPC work as a unified team — BRIM as your plan advisor and investment fiduciary, TRPC as your recordkeeper and administrator. One relationship, one point of contact, and every discipline covered.
The Payroll Provider Plan vs. The BRIM + TRPC Approach
Your Retirement Plan Should Work as Hard as Your Business
Whether you're launching a new plan, overhauling an existing one, or looking for a fiduciary partner backed by institutional-quality administration — we'll build a plan your employees deserve and your business benefits from.
Questions? Seeking Further Insight?
Connect with our team to discuss your goals. No obligations, no pressure — just a straightforward conversation about how we can help.
Questions? Seeking Further Insight?
Connect with our experts at BRIM.