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Employee Benefit Trust Services
Managing Your Employee Benefit Plan
Whether you're the benefits manager for an organization or the owner of a closely held business, you know that providing a retirement plan (or other employee benefit plan) offers valuable benefits for the company and its employees. However, when you provide a company retirement plan, you also take on the fiduciary responsibility of selecting and reviewing the plan's investments, which requires time and expertise. That's why you may want to consider shifting that responsibility to professionals who can help you manage your employee benefit plan.Corporate Trust Services for Your Employee Benefit Plan
A.G. Edwards Trust Company, a subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation and an affiliate of A.G. Edwards, can provide trust services for your employee benefit plan (i.e., retirement plan), regardless of its size, by taking on a variety of responsibilities.
Fiduciary responsibility. Fiduciaries are responsible for the general management of the overall investment process of the employee benefit plan assets held in trust. A.G. Edwards Trust Company offers many trust services to assist (or even share) in some areas of the fiduciary responsibility involved with your employee benefit plan.
Trusteeship. When establishing an employee benefit plan, you must decide who will serve as trustee. When you team up with a professional trustee, such as A.G. Edwards Trust Company, much of the responsibility is shifted away from you. A professional trustee will:
• Accept investment responsibility
• Provide security settlement and safekeeping
• Collect income and dividends
• Pay distributions
• Prepare and file applicable tax forms (945, 1096 and 1099)
• Prepare financial records, including certified trust statements
Investment management. Once you determine who your trustee will be, you must decide who will make the plan's investment decisions. Should it be you as the employer, your employees, the trustee or a combination of these? Your A.G. Edwards Financial Advisor, working in tandem with A.G. Edwards Trust Company, can help you make the choice that will help you meet your company's goals for its employee benefit plan.
Different Levels of Employee Benefit Trust Services
How much control you need to maintain over your retirement plan is up to you. Some employers are more comfortable when they act as their own trustee for their plans. Others enjoy the confidence and freedom that comes from putting their plans into the hands of trusted professionals. Still others fall somewhere in between. A.G. Edwards Trust Company can provide different levels of of trust services based on the needs of your company. These include acting as:• Discretionary trustee
• Managing agent
• Nondiscretionary trustee
• Custodian
• Trustee for Rabbi trusts
To learn more about employee benefit trust services, visit the A.G. Edwards Trust Company's Web site or contact your A.G. Edwards Financial Advisor.