OpenArc adds recordkeeper search to its fiduciary platform

OpenArc Corporate Advisory has expanded its institutional consulting platform into independent provider search. The firm will run RFIs and RFPs for plan sponsors weighing 401(k) plans, nonqualified deferred compensation, equity compensation, and HSAs, 401(k) Specialist reports.

OpenArc said the service builds on its investment fiduciary practice, letting sponsors evaluate, benchmark, and select providers through an objective process. It can act as a 3(38) investment manager or a 3(21) fiduciary. OpenArc manages no investment products, administers no plans, and takes no revenue-sharing compensation from providers, the announcement said.

Chad Pigg Fife, principal partner for institutional consulting and corporate business development, said sponsors are increasingly asked to evaluate providers and advice across every part of their benefits program. Whether the review covers a single plan or several benefit programs, he said, OpenArc serves as the independent fiduciary partner in the room.

Running the search is a classic way into a fiduciary relationship. A sponsor that brings OpenArc in to run the recordkeeper search is well placed to name the firm as its 3(38) or 3(21) adviser once the provider is chosen. That full-lifecycle relationship is what the firm says it now covers.

The announcement comes as sponsors treat retirement plans, equity comp, and HSAs as one set of benefits rather than separate purchases. A search firm with no products to push is well placed for that consolidation. The mandates it wins will show whether the no-revenue-sharing model holds.