Comprehensive Financial Planning and Fiduciary Support Services
Comprehensive financial planning for retirement plan sponsors means structured governance, documented financial decisions, and ongoing monitoring built around your employees' long term goals, not wealth management advice. The DOL's EBSA recovered $1.384 billion for employee benefit plans in FY 2024, a clear signal that fiduciary process failures carry real consequences. PointOak Retirement Advisors helps plan sponsors meet those obligations with expertise, independence, and accountability.
$120B+ in retirement plan assets evaluated quarterly
Named 3(21) and 3(38) fiduciary status under ERISA, from day one
10,000+ benchmarks per year, 450+ data points per bidder
How Comprehensive Financial Planning Works for Plan Sponsors
A holistic approach to retirement planning integrates investment strategy, fee benchmarking, risk oversight, fiduciary documentation, and regulatory compliance into an integrated planning process. As your investment adviser and named fiduciary under ERISA, PointOak applies a proprietary 10-point pass/fail scoring system to quarterly monitoring, measuring risk-adjusted returns, peer group rankings, fund manager tenure, and risk tolerance across your full portfolio. That process produces defensible financial decisions your committee can stand behind.
What separates comprehensive support from a one-time review is documentation. Every recommendation, committee meeting, and monitoring output is maintained in a Virtual 401(k) Fiduciary File, the primary audit defense artifact for plan sponsors facing DOL scrutiny. That infrastructure is what PointOak builds from day one.
Benefits of Comprehensive Fiduciary Support
Reduced Fiduciary Liability Exposure
Documented governance artifacts (an Investment Policy Statement, committee records, and a maintained fiduciary file) demonstrate proper management of fiduciary obligations if your plan faces an audit. Achieving this level of documentation protects resources and keeps your financial goals on track.
Higher Participation and Savings Outcomes
Plans with automatic enrollment show 94% participation compared with 64% for voluntary enrollment plans, per PSCA's summary of Vanguard data. PointOak helps plan sponsors explore auto-enrollment and auto-escalation features that improve employees' future retirement security, making investing the default choice rather than something current income pressures cause participants to defer.
Ongoing Fee and Investment Oversight
Average mutual fund expense ratios in 401(k) plans fell 44% for hybrid funds and 69% for bond funds from 2000 to 2024, per ICI. Quarterly monitoring and annual benchmarking ensure your plan achieves those savings and your assets stay properly managed, freeing up money your organization can redirect toward funding other business priorities.
Our Fiduciary Support Services
The right service depends on how much discretion you want to retain and the maturity of your committee governance.
3(21) Co-Fiduciary Services
PointOak acts as your investment adviser, providing guidance while your committee retains final authority over financial decisions. This comprehensive approach lets plan sponsors provide advice to their committees with an expert sharing accountability on every recommendation. Best for committees with experienced members who want structured support and clear documentation.
3(38) Investment Manager Services
PointOak assumes discretionary investment management responsibility under ERISA, handling investment strategy development and ongoing monitoring. Committee workload is reduced; broader accountability shifts to PointOak. Best for sponsors seeking to fully delegate investment management.
Investment Policy Statement (IPS) Development
PointOak helps create a comprehensive IPS formalizing investment objectives, asset class guidelines, monitoring criteria, and governance rules. Without a current IPS, committees lack the documented resources needed for responsible fiduciary decision-making.
Virtual 401(k) Fiduciary File
A centralized digital system maintaining all processes, procedures, and meeting records. This is your primary resource if the government initiates a plan inquiry or audit.
Annual Fiduciary Plan Review
A comprehensive annual review covering investment performance, fee benchmarking, plan design, and regulatory updates. This creates a consistent governance rhythm and a dated record of due diligence to present to leadership.
Fiduciary Specialist vs. Generalist Wealth Management
Plan sponsors regularly compare retirement plan specialists with a generalist financial advisor or wealth advisor at a broader wealth management firm. The difference has real implications.
| Factor | PointOak Fiduciary Support | Generalist Wealth Advisor |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Corporate retirement plans | Broad wealth management and other services |
| Fiduciary role | Named 3(21) or 3(38) under ERISA | Often non-discretionary or limited scope |
| Benchmarking methodology | 450+ data points, actual plan data | Industry averages or infrequent review |
| Revenue from retirement plans | 90%+ | Typically a small share of business |
A wealth advisor whose retirement plan work is a fraction of their business brings different priorities and shallower knowledge to your ERISA challenges. PointOak's entire practice is built around the potential risks, regulations, and objectives plan sponsors face.
Who Needs Comprehensive Fiduciary Support?
Sponsors in Any Industry with Fiduciary Exposure
From public sector organizations to private business, plan fiduciaries face the same life challenges: committee turnover, regulatory change, fee scrutiny, and savings gaps. Managing a plan without a current IPS, documented benchmarks, or a defensible investment strategy means carrying potential risks that structured governance resolves.
Plans Falling Short on Participation or Current Needs
Addressing participants' current needs means understanding current income levels, saving rates, and plan design features that move behavior. PointOak helps you develop strategies connecting auto-enrollment, budgeting education, and contribution escalation to outcomes your employees can achieve.
When It May Not Be the Right Fit
If your plan is small and already managed by a specialist with current documentation, a targeted review may address current needs more efficiently. Contact us and we'll scope honestly.
What To Expect: Our Process
Analyze
We review your plan structure, investment lineup, fees, and documentation to identify gaps and explore opportunities to improve your finances and governance.
Optimize
We develop strategies and present findings with supporting data so your committee can make confident financial decisions aligned with your plan's objectives.
Implement
We work with your providers to execute changes, document every decision, and establish the monitoring cadence that keeps your plan on track.
Why Choose PointOak for Comprehensive Financial Planning?
PointOak manages over $1 billion in client assets with a team of three partners bringing more than 50 years of collective experience. Our comprehensive financial planning integrates investments, taxes, retirement income, estate goals, and risk management into one coordinated strategy. Unlike advisors who focus on isolated pieces of your financial life, we bring everything together — ensuring your investment portfolio, tax strategies, and retirement plan work in harmony. As a fee-only, independent fiduciary firm with no proprietary products, we focus solely on your best interest. With fewer than 100 clients per partner, you receive the personalized attention and ongoing coordination that comprehensive planning requires.
About PointOak Retirement Advisors
PointOak Retirement Advisors is an independent, fee-only wealth advisory firm headquartered in McLean, Virginia, specializing in retirement planning and wealth management for high-net-worth individuals and families. The firm has operated as a full-scope fiduciary since inception, managing over $1 billion in assets with a team of three partners bringing more than 50 years of collective experience. PointOak also serves corporate plan sponsors through its retirement plan consulting practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fees vary by scope and plan size; PointOak scopes each engagement individually. Common advisory models include roughly 1% of AUM, retainers of $2,500 to $9,200, or hourly rates of $200 to $400, per NerdWallet's 2026 guidance. PointOak does not publish standardized pricing because plan complexity and scope vary significantly. Contact us and we'll scope accurately.
Comprehensive support includes ongoing monitoring, governance documentation, and named fiduciary accountability. A one-time review is a point-in-time snapshot. The CFP Board's 7-step financial planning process includes monitoring and updating as core steps, and a one-time review does not fulfill ERISA's ongoing fiduciary standard of care. PointOak maintains that cadence with quarterly monitoring, annual reviews, and a continuously updated fiduciary file.
Quarterly for investments, annually for a full review, and at least every three years for fee benchmarking. PointOak conducts quarterly investment monitoring and delivers annual fiduciary plan reviews to your committee. Industry guidance supports a fee benchmarking cadence of at least every three years, per USI's 2025 plan fee review guidance.
No. PointOak does not provide tax planning, estate plan services, or guidance on estate taxes or income tax structuring. PointOak's scope covers ERISA fiduciary governance, investment management, and plan design. We coordinate with your tax and legal counsel for matters outside that scope and do not provide legal advice.
Automatic enrollment is the highest-impact plan design lever for improving participation and long-term savings outcomes. Plans with automatic enrollment show 94% participation compared with 64% for voluntary enrollment, per PSCA's summary of Vanguard's 2025 data. PointOak helps plan sponsors implement auto-enrollment and auto-escalation with full documentation and committee support.
Certain new plans must default eligible employees at a minimum 3% contribution rate with at least 1% annual escalation until reaching 10% to 15%. These requirements took effect in 2025 per PLANADVISER. Existing plans are not required to adopt auto-enrollment, but PointOak reviews participation and savings impact for all clients during annual plan design assessments.
Recordkeeper-affiliated advisors have inherent conflicts; an independent specialist has no proprietary products to defend. PointOak benchmarks your recordkeeper objectively and can recommend alternatives when the data supports it. Independence ensures every recommendation reflects your employees' interests, not a parent company's revenue priorities.
Named fiduciary status under ERISA, retirement plan specialization, and verifiable credentials through FINRA BrokerCheck. PointOak's advisors act as named 3(21) or 3(38) fiduciaries with all clients, and the firm generates over 90% of its revenue from corporate retirement plans. Verify advisor credentials at FINRA BrokerCheck.
Investment advisory services offered through PointOak Retirement Advisors, LLC. Published for U.S. residents only. Not all products and services are available in every state and through every representative. PointOak Retirement Advisors, LLC does not provide tax or legal advice.
Ready to Simplify Your Financial Life?
Schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your financial goals and how we can help. There's no cost for the initial meeting. No obligation. Just a conversation to see if we're the right fit for your needs.
What To Expect
Our initial consultation typically lasts 30–45 minutes. We'll discuss your goals, current situation, and how we might work together. Come prepared with questions.