A: Voluntary benefits are often viewed as lower risk because they’re employee-paid and sit alongside core health and welfare plans rather than inside them. That perception can lead to lighter oversight of compensation structures, carrier arrangements, and administrative fees.
The exposure typically arises when compensation is indirect, embedded in premiums, or not clearly documented. As regulatory scrutiny and fee-related litigation continue to expand, voluntary programs are increasingly being examined through the same fiduciary lens applied to other ERISA-covered benefits. That includes how vendors are selected, how compensation is structured, and whether the sponsor has exercised appropriate oversight.
A disciplined review doesn’t mean something is wrong. It means ensuring that fee arrangements are transparent, reasonable, and well-documented. SBA helps plan sponsors evaluate voluntary benefit structures, understand how compensation flows, and confirm that governance practices are aligned with evolving expectations—reducing the likelihood of unpleasant surprises down the road.
A: The answer starts with understanding what you’re paying for. Actuarial services typically include a mix of routine work and more complex, non-routine projects, and the effort required can vary significantly between the two.
At a basic level, it helps to separate routine services from non-routine work. Routine services include annual valuations, required filings, and standard compliance deliverables. These tend to be more predictable and easier to benchmark. Non-routine work—such as special projects, plan changes, or unique calculations—can vary significantly depending on the situation.
From there, the question becomes whether the scope of services, level of expertise, and amount of effort align with what you’re being charged. Clear documentation, defined deliverables, and transparency around fee structure, including hourly consulting rates, are key. SBA helps plan sponsors evaluate these arrangements, compare them to market practices, and ensure fees are aligned with the value being delivered.
A: Plan governance refers to the structure, processes, and oversight plan sponsors put in place to ensure the retirement plan runs smoothly, complies with ERISA, and supports participant outcomes. That includes defining fiduciary roles, monitoring service providers, maintaining plan documentation, and managing operations and compliance with care and consistency.
Strong governance isn’t just about avoiding litigation; it’s about fulfilling fiduciary responsibilities and building a foundation for long-term plan health. It involves:
- Delegating oversight to a benefits committee or other co-fiduciaries
- Maintaining accurate, accessible records of plan documents, decisions, and deadlines
- Monitoring plan operations, expenses, participant communications, and vendor performance
- Staying prepared for regulatory or organizational changes
SBA helps plan sponsors assess where their governance practices stand today and build frameworks that support continuity, accountability, and better outcomes for plan participants.
A: Even small calculation errors can create outsized problems over time. If errors are identified, underpayments may require corrective contributions with interest, while overpayments can be difficult—or impossible—to recover. In either case, errors can lead to compliance concerns, audit findings, and frustrated participants.
These issues often stem from complex plan provisions, incomplete or inconsistent data, or incorrect application of formulas. And because many plans have years of amendments and special cases built in, errors aren’t always obvious until a benefit is paid or reviewed.
SBA helps plan sponsors address both sides of the issue: prevention and correction. When errors are discovered, we validate the impacted population, underlying data, and applicable plan provisions, then work through appropriate correction strategies and ensure calculations are accurate going forward. We also help plan sponsors proactively reduce risk by periodically reviewing sample sets of calculations to confirm that logic remains accurate and participant data is contextually consistent. This approach helps identify issues early, when they are easier to resolve and less disruptive.
A: At SBA, our role is to be objective and data-driven at all times. We don’t sell financial or insurance products, receive commissions, or have ties to the vendors we evaluate on behalf of clients during RFP searches. That independence means our advice is guided solely by your goals. Our focus is on helping you optimize your benefits strategy, improve vendor performance, and reduce costs—all with an eye on ensuring you fulfill the required fiduciary duties to your participants.
It’s a common misconception to lump us in with brokers or investment advisors, but SBA plays a very different role. As an independent firm, we rely solely on data and our clients’ best interests, enabling us to design strategies rooted in fiduciary principles and focused on measurable outcomes. Our culture is centered on partnership, retention, and results.
In short: SBA is built to serve, not to sell. That’s why our clients get advice they can trust, grounded in data, transparency, and their best interests.