Risk Management Tools Set Sail From Normandie Group

March 4, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Plan sponsors and 401(k) providers alike now have access to a new tool designed to help them navigate the occasionally treacherous waters of fund selection and monitoring.

The tool set, aptly named PlanTools INSTITUTIONAL, comes from The Normandie Group, Inc., and offers a risk management system with platform automation and advisory solutions for Institutions that offer 401(k) administration and investment services to plan sponsors, as well as directly to plan sponsors themselves.  

The PlanTools RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM consists of five basic elements:

  • Investment Policy Statement (IPS) Module – enables the creation and maintenance of a plan IPS by the sponsor and its service provider, while also identifying plan asset classes and selection criteria to be used in fund selection.
  • SelectList Fund Module – an interactive fund selection module that supports the analysis and selection of plan investment funds, as defined by the IPS.
  • Quarterly Monitor Report – an integrated quarterly ‘report card’ that ties plan-specific investment fund performance to monitoring criteria identified in the plan’s custom IPS.
  • Fiduciary Handbook – which provides guidance on what’s important in overseeing the operation of a 401(k) plan. This online and hardcopy ‘401(k) owner’s manual’ is provided on a subscription basis and addresses key topics about fiduciary responsibilities to plan participants and beneficiaries
  • PlanTools Support Center – a web-enabled relationship management support system that provides plan sponsors with virtual access to service reps and industry experts via Webcast annual and quarterly plan committee meetings and community town hall meetings with other plan sponsors and industry experts.

Additionally, Normandie’s registered institutional advisor will serve as advisor of record and fiduciary if desired.

Client “Tell”

Normandie also announced Portland, Oregon-based Columbia Trust Company’s adoption of PlanTools INSTITUTIONAL as a key component of its product offering. Columbia Trust Company is part of Columbia Management Group, the asset management arm of FleetBostonFinancial. Columbia Trust Company serves nearly 1000 401(k) plan clients representing $1 billion, according to the firm.

“The PlanTools platform is based upon a collection of technology solutions that have been in production since 1998,” said Normandie’s co-founder and CEO, John Katovich, who was previously EVP and General Counsel for the Pacific Stock Exchange. ” The combined solutions are now a system that has proven so attractive that we decided to introduce a version that Institutions and their intermediaries could use to serve Plan Sponsor clients.”

PlanTools services come in a range of configurations, depending upon market segment and service channel. Pricing is variable based upon scope and scale of the service partner relationship, according to the firm.

You can find out more about the PlanTools RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM at www.plantools.com

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