Fiduciary Investment Requirements

Bragg Financial Advisors understands the requirements of ERISA and partners with their clients in carrying out their fiduciary duties. Specifically regarding plan investment decisions, Bragg Financial Advisors provides the following services:

• Prepare the Investment Policy Statement An Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is a written document that outlines plan investment objectives, asset allocation strategy, risk tolerance, and the policies that will govern investment selection, monitoring and the processes to replace investment options.
• Conduct an Investment Manager Search Bragg Financial will conduct a search of the investment management universe for mutual funds that meet the requirements set forth in the IPS. Search criteria include, but are not limited to; performance as measured over meaningful periods of time, management philosophy, tenure and process, style adherence, expenses and risk statistics.
• Investment Monitoring After the investment funds are selected, ERISA requires that they be closely monitored. Annually, Bragg Financial Advisors will perform a full Due Diligence Review of all funds using the same specific criteria as in the search process. In addition, Bragg Financial Advisors monitors the fund menu on a constant basis to stay fully abreast of any issues that may arise that could affect fund performance.
• Documentation The end result of the Due Diligence Review is a written document that clearly shows the process used to monitor the investment options. The review process scores each fund option as satisfactory, placed on watch due to certain specific concerns or replaced with a more appropriate fund.
• Co-Fiduciary Services Bragg Financial will serve as a Co-Fiduciary to the Plan with regard to the selection and ongoing monitoring of the plan investment options. We will prepare the IPS, conduct a search for appropriate investment options, monitor the fund menu, report investment results, and document all processes.