The expertise, resources, and flexibility to select the appropriate investments for your plan.
Retirement plan sponsors have limited resources to commit to managing their retirement programs. By using Black Box Pension Advocates, LLC as your investment consultant, you can be confident that the performance of your investment options is being monitored.
In selecting the invest offerings for your plan, the staff and resources of LPL Research are available to help us at every point.
LPL Research Department as of 12/31/2018
Number of employees: 45
Average years of industry experience: 12
Number of advanced degrees and certifications: 37
Number of portfolios tailored to specific investment objectives: 300+
number of approved or recommended investment managers: 900
Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) Certification
The LPL Retirement Partners Tool Suite has been certified by the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX) for Investment Support Services. CEFEX is an independent global assessment and certification organization that works closely with investment fiduciaries and industry experts to provide comprehensive assessment programs that improve risk management for institutional and retail investors. CEFEX certification helps determine the trustworthiness of investment fiduciaries. (The Scope of certification is limited to the LPL Financial Retirement Partners Tool Suite when used in conjunction with the LPL 12-point scoring methodology, Fiduciary Monitoring System, Plan Advice Manager, Expense Analyzer, Fiduciary Vault, Retirement Plan HealthCheck, Fee Comparison and Analysis Tool, Fund Line-up Comparison Tool and RFP Director.)
To view the CEFEX certification, visit CEFEX directly #CFX10309
With Black Box Pension Advocates, LLC, there are no proprietary investment requirements.
Additional information about our research department and philosophy:
An overview of LPL’s Research Department #730960
Details about LPL’s Research Department and philosophy #827394
About our proprietary 12-point investment scoring methodology:
Investment Advice for Defined Contribution Plan Sponsors
401(k), 403(b), and 457 Plans
At Black Box Pension Advocates, LLC, our clients know what to expect from us – investment advice that meets the fiduciary standard. When advising your committee on the selection of investment options for your retirement plan, as co-fiduciaries, we sit on the same side of the table as you.
Our investment advice for defined contribution plans typically includes:
Development of the Investment Policy Statement
Investment menu design
Investment selection, monitoring, and replacing
Documentation of rational
Ongoing investment monitoring and reporting
We can provide advice as either a 3(21) investment fiduciary or a 3(38) investment fiduciary.
In designing the investment menu, we consider:
the unique composition of your workforce and their investment preferences
Current stock market valuations and recession risks. The LPL Recession Watch is updated weekly.
Legislation, along with product innovation, which is always bringing new solutions to the table. We help you evaluate new developments and decide what is right for your plan.
Investment Advice for Defined Benefit Plan Sponsors
No single strategy is right for every organization. We look at your plan’s funded ratio, your organization’s financial situation, the plan size, the current economic outlook, and a range of other factors to find the risk management approach that fits your business best, including:
Liability-driven investing (LDI)
Dynamic asset allocation
Pension de-risking
Manage the cost of your plan
Liability-driven investing for DB plans of all sizes
Our investment advice can help makes it easier to implement an LDI strategy for any DB plan, no matter its size. Our solutions offer:
Help managing volatility with distinct duration bands—and the option to combine multiple portfolios to match the duration of a plan’s assets to that of its liabilities.
Emphasis on corporate bonds to reflect the connection between the funded status of DB plans and the corporate interest rate environment.
A rigorous and disciplined process of selecting top investment managers and monitoring their performance over time, helping you to manage fiduciary responsibilities.
We can provide advice as either a 3(21) investment fiduciary or a 3(38) investment fiduciary.
Endowments and Foundations
Our disciplined investment process starts with working with you to develop appropriate and realistic goals and expectations. We strive to eliminate market complexity and simplify the decision-making process.
We have developed services to address the demands placed on non-profits including:
Investment advisory services, such as investment and spending policy development, asset allocation, and manager search and selection
Discretionary consulting services
Fiduciary and risk management consulting services
We are committed to objectivity and transparency and singularly focused on understanding your unique goals and objectives.
Investment advice for individuals and families
For retirement plan sponsors:
We can provide education and/or advice to your retirement plan participants. To learn more, visit our learning center dedicated to the financial education of retirement plan participants.
Click here to visit the Black Box Learning Center
For individual clients:
For clients that work with us directly, rather than through their employer-sponsored retirement plan, we can provide solutions and advice tailored to the specific needs of the individual and their family.
Some resources about the personal financial services that we provide:
Financial Planning with Money Guide Pro
Wealth Planning Services #623837
Financial Planning Services #760451
A convenient guide on retirement account portability #575971
IRA Rollover Guide #407646
IRA Overview #798241
Trust services available through the Private Trust Company, a subsidiary of LPL Financial.
Planning with confidence with simplified trust solutions #627790
Trusteed IRA’s #552184
Charitable Remainder Trusts #633754
Incentive Trusts #074676
The software that we use to develop financial plans is money guide pro.