It began when Pentegra, an Institutional Fiduciary established in 1943, who saw an opportunity to take ESG investing mainstream, called. Enough of their clients were requesting ESG options. They felt the time was right to create a product for mission-driven organizations looking to add a broad complement of ESG funds to the company retirement plan. For a lot of these organizations, the desire to add ESG options had been a growing issue, but the options were severely limited.
Partnering with Social(k), Pentegra on Big Green, they added a 15-year history of SRI and ESG advisory and consulting to this new product. Full integration of ESG options, and fiduciary oversight, at an affordable price. If you are a mission-driven organization looking to add ESG options, and fiduciary oversight above and beyond what you have today, contact us for a custom quote.
For advisors familiar with Pentegra we offer their “aggregate pricing“. Lower pricing than plans not affiliated with national or larger advisory firms. Enough of a discount to cover our fixed fee and still be less. We are not an advisory firm, we are here to support your relationship with the client.
From a fiduciary standpoint offering Big Green with our discount, a lower fee than what you might otherwise see becomes the prudent option.
Social(k) 3.0 How did we get here?
In 2005 Social(k) worked with one record-keeper, ExpertPlan, to deliver the first ESG integrated 401(k) platform to mission-driven organizations.
Ten years later we left ExpertPlan and expanded our offerings. We sought a solution that would work for our wide range of participants. Large universities, 120 person solar companies, and 5 person non-profit start-ups all have different needs. So we built a network. We now use 3 record-keepers, 5 Third Party Administrators, 2 custodians and a handful of qualified advisors to deliver a custom plan to a variety of clients.
We also added 3(38) fiduciary for investment oversight. Smaller plans could not find advisors to do this work. By adding QBox Fiduciary Services we can offer investment oversight at an affordable rate. The Easy Plan was created and has been a great success.
In 2019 we have added even more offerings. After the fashion of the country’s billion-dollar plans, we are offering a fixed price fully bundled platform with complete 3(16) administrative services included. The biggest fee with most plans is the asset-based fee. This goes up as assets go up. With our fixed rate fee, we find plans with over $1million in assets can move to fixed pricing to save money.
At the same time, we include 3(16) fiduciary services, for a lower price than many asset priced plans charge. This is the best part of the new product we call Big Green. Adding this service does two things: One: All the administrative work is taken on by the 3(16), who signs the 5500, taking fiscal responsibility for the plan. Two: The 401(k) moves to an ESG integrated platform for less than you pay now. Human Resources will send us flowers on the plan anniversary, every year!