401k Enginuity™ Customization Options

Introduction...

401k Enginuity is customizable both on the system level (to address the needs and corporate identity of the licensed Provider) and the individual plan level (to address the needs of the individual 401k Plan Sponsor and its employees).

  • The licensed Provider selects the name it wants its 401k Enginuity to bear to the public.
  • The Provider selects the options it wants its licensed 401k Enginuity to offer 401k Plan Sponsors.
  • Each Plan Sponsor then selects from those options what it wants for its company plan.
  • There is no extra charge for including or excluding any options, a savings the licensed Provider can pass on to its Plan Sponsors, if desired.

Please contact us if you would like details beyond the below regarding 401k Enginuity customization.

System Customization Options...

On the system level, a licensed 401k Enginuity Provider can include, exclude or define, as applicable, the following:

  • The "look" of its 401k Enginuity, including defining a specific web-safe palette of colors or simply submitting a logo and/or instructing Pension Systems Corporation to have the licensed 401k Enginuity match the Provider's main website, for instance, and let Pension Systems Corporation's design team take it from there.
  • The name its 401k Enginuity will bear to the public.
  • The archival period (i.e., how long the system keeps data "live" before moving it to the "archived" fields) to be used within its licensed 401k Enginuity; see 401k Enginuity Features for details.
  • The investments to be available for Plan Sponsors' plans; all investment types allowable by federal regulation for 401k investment are compatible with 401k Enginuity, as are self-directed brokerage accounts.
  • Any minimum investment amounts or other investment restrictions to be applied (within those allowable by law).
  • Any fees and the definition thereof that Plan Sponsors will be charged — which can be posted to Plan Sponsors' accounts via 401k Enginuity on a client-by-client, plan-by-plan, even transaction-by-transaction basis, as applicable. See 401k Enginuity Features for details.
  • Each plan customization item listed below under Individual Plan Customization Options. Each item can be enabled or disabled on a plan-by-plan basis.

The licensed Provider's 401k Enginuity is customized to the above, with "exclude" items omitted completely from the system rather than dimmed out or otherwise disabled yet visible, so Plan Sponsors won't ever wonder why their Provider doesn't offer a dimmed-out option.

Individual Plan Customization Options...

A licensed 401k Enginuity Provider's individual 401k Plan Sponsors have discretion over the following for each plan they adopt:

  • The plan's eligibility parameters, including age and length of service requirements as well as residency status and exclusion of employees governed by a collective bargaining agreement.
  • Whether or not automatic enrollment will be activated, and if so the default investment and contribution rate to be used.
  • The plan's investment options (from the list the Provider has elected to offer, including self-directed brokerage accounts, if any).
  • Any employer matching contributions to be offered.
  • Any employer profit-sharing contributions (a.k.a., discretionary contributions) to be offered.
  • Any employer qualified nonelective contributions to be offered.
  • The vesting schedule(s) to be applied to any employer matching and/or profit-sharing contributions being offered. (Qualified nonelective contributions are, by law, 100% vested when made.)
  • Whether or not 401k loans will be allowed.
  • The plan year (short plan years OK, too).
  • The payroll cycle on which processing will be run.

Each plan's plan administration and plan participation functions are customized to the above, with "exclude" items omitted completely rather than dimmed out or otherwise disabled yet visible, so eligible employees will never wonder why their company plan doesn't offer dimmed-out items (such as particular investments or 401k loans, for instance).

401k Investment Options...

Plan providers who use 401k Enginuity can offer to their clients a virtually unlimited universe of qualified investment options. Specifically, almost any no-load mutual fund offered in the USA, and most self-directed brokerage accounts offered as well. 401k Enginuity’s current no load mutual fund provider and custodian is TD Ameritrade, and the primary self-directed brokerage is Charles Schwab. 401k Enginuity can be easily adapted to use any asset custodians, based upon the plan provider’s needs and preferences.

The 401k Enginuity policy is not to accept any rebates or revenue sharing of fees deducted from our clients' plan assets. Entities that provide and support 401(k) plan investments, include mutual funds managers, fund distributors, asset custodians, asset trustees, investment brokers and advisors, and plan administrators and record-keepers. These entities typically earn at least a portion of their compensation from asset-based fees deducted from plan assets. 401k Enginuity is an exception to the norm in that we do not earn any compensation, either directly or indirectly, from our plan provider-clients’ 401(k) plan assets. Our published prices, available online for all to see, are the only net compensation we collect.