Review of Service Agreements and Requisite Disclosures

With the advent of Section 408(b)(2) (Advisor Service Provider Disclosures) and the specificity of the services required, our advisor partners can strongly benefit from ARCC resources. Given the draconian nature of noncompliance = advisor replacement, the service agreement world has taken on a whole new meaning. So many components and issues must be diligently thought through on the indi- vidual advisor level, as well as on the broker-dealer and RIA advisory level. Such items as distinguishing between fiduciary and non-fiduciary services; governance and advice; guidance and education must be carefully drafted to avoid unintended consequences. While careful crafting is essential, this is also an excellent opportu- nity for our advisor partners to articulate and demonstrate their value proposition. This forum allows the advisor to differentiate their service model to optimize the Plan Sponsor's experience.

As our advisor partners realize, all this specific disclosure is meant to ultimately measure the reasonableness of their compensation. APG's team and respective resources can assist throughout this whole process. We can review the disclosures for requisite compliance and help structure them to give a competitive advantage in winning and retaining business. This of course means a comprehensive evalu- ation of the fee structure as well. This level of understanding is derived through APG's RFP experience and our involvement with significant DOL audits. This gives us a unique first-hand knowledge of the compensation marketplace and how it is most commonly structured. Simply put, the DOL requires fiduciaries to evaluate fees against services provided. Therefore, APG can assist our advisor partners in understanding not only how to structure their compensation, but also what services to align to substantiate their fees.