As the Plan Fiduciary of the company 401(k) program, you have to start with a firm grasp of what the verious services really cost, if those numbers are reasonable, and - most important - who's actually paying for them. Answering these questions, however, can prove difficult because plan information is sometimes incomplete or misleading. For instance, it's common for 401(k) programs to pay for many plan costs through ''so called '' 12b-1 fees or other revenue sharing arrangements. But in reality, the plan participants actually pay for these services through higher mutual fund expense ratios.

Expenses changed for investments and plan services can vary significantly - as much as 1% - 2% of the plan assets. This can have an enormous impact on the assets accumulated at retirement by your participants. So it's wise to offer investment choices that allow participants to reduce their investment expense. While the Heritage Financial Group, Inc. 401(k) program offers highly competitive costs for record – keeping., plan administration and custody services, the more significant feature for participants is the low cost for investment expense. By using low-cost exchange traded funds (ETF's) instead of mutual funds, the cost of investment to participants can often be reduced substantially- which may add up to additional dollars at retirement.

Most people rely on a 401(k) as part of a long-term retirement strategy. It is well documented that the vast majority of active investment managers fail to outperform the S&P 500 when measured over extended periods of time. * Why should participants take such as risk? Investing in a fully developed index -based fund strategy means exposure to all significant marker segments, and it lets participants track the broader market. While there is no guarantee with any investment, experience shows this approach reduces the risk of investing precious retirements assets in funds that can underperform the industry benchmarks. Heritage Financial Group, Inc. 401(k) program can also accommodate participants who have a short- term horizon as well as those who are confident in selecting the fund managers. The Heritage Financial Group, Inc. 401 (k) programs offers a menu of no-load and load waived mutual funds to supplement the index approach. By offering this choice - a complete index based investment approach as well as a menu of actively managed funds - you can feel more comfortable that you' re addressing the needs of all participants.

Experience has shown that the ''learn it yourself '' approach - participants get a pile of investing brochures or Web-based investing tools and then cherry- pick from a range of mutual funds- isn't the most effective way for most people to build a 401(k) portfolio. The vast majority still lack the knowledge and experience to allocate their assets effectively for the long term. With a core investment strategy of asset allocation, the Heritage Financial Group, Inc. 401(k) program, knowledgeable investors can always choose to create their own portfolio.

ETF's make sense in long-term investing vehicles like 401(k) plans. But all ETF's are not created equal. The vast majority of ETF's are market cap - weighted. So by design, they hold more of a stock as its price is going up and less as it's going down ( common sense says '' buy low, and sell high,'' but market cap - weighted ETF' s do the exact opposite). This structural flaw can overweight the overvalued stocks and underweight undervalued stocks - in our view, exposing participants to potentially higher risks and lower returns. In addition, ETF' s dividend - based funds present an especially attractive combination for retirement, offering investors the potential for income- generating yields and relatively lower volatility. ETF' s cover all major market capitalizations domestically and are competitively priced to allow for a low-cost investment expense to participants. Heritage Financial Group, Inc. 401(k) offers you a choice of prebuilt or fully customizable solutions.