The Value of Working with an AIF® or AIFA® Designee

Overview

A “fiduciary” is someone who is managing the assets of another person and stands in a special relationship of trust, confidence, and/or legal responsibility. A fiduciary is required by law to always act in the best interests of their client, beneficiary, or retirement plan participant. Yet, many fiduciaries are not even aware of their duties and responsibilities.

AIF and AIFA designees have acquired a thorough knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and can be an invaluable resource to investment fiduciaries and individual investors alike. An AIF designation represents that person’s knowledge of a Global Fiduciary Standard of Excellence and their application of the global standard into their own practice. An AIFA designee has received the same training on a fiduciary standard, complemented by training on ISO-like assessment procedures to assess whether other fiduciaries conform to the standard of excellence.

Don’t risk going at it alone, AIF and AIFA designees have the training necessary to ensure that an investment process is managed to an appropriate fiduciary standard of care.

Full Article

Retirement Plans

The Department of Labor recently released new regulations, and Canon Capital would like to help you, as the plan fiduciary, understand these new regulations and minimize your liability as the plan sponsor, both professionally and personally. Plan sponsors have the legal obligation to make sure that their retirement plan fees are reasonable.  How do you know if your plan fees are reasonable?  As a plan sponsor, you have the obligation to either benchmark your plan or request a proposal to ensure that your plan fees are reasonable.   Canon Capital Investment Advisory is a CEFEX-certified registered investment adviser bringing world class talent to its established client base for over 25 years.  We work with top quality service providers, such as Vanguard and American Funds, which offer high quality/low-cost investments, transparent fees, superior recordkeeping, and quality education for participants at a low “all-in” cost.

Our staff consists of C(k)P™ (Certified 401(k) Professional) Designation holders, who are highly specialized and equipped to provide your company with favorable retirement plan outcomes for you and your employees.

We are confident that we can improve your Company’s Plan through better overall service at a lower cost, with our primary focus on investment monitoring, plan compliance, employee education, and reporting.  If you are interested in a free quote, please give us a call today at (215) 723-4881 and ask to speak with one of our advisors.

Request a Quote

  • 401(k)/403(b)
  • Institutional Investment Management
  • Fiduciary Services
    • Consulting
    • Training & Education
    • Audits and Assessments
  • Full Scope ERISA 3(21) and Limited Scope 3(38) Fiduciary Delegation
  • 408(b)(2) Disclosure

We take the hassle out of payroll

We provide unparalleled support and personal service. Our reputation for providing accurate, on-time payroll makes us different from the competition We customize our services to match your company’s individual needs to serve any size group or program.

We offer competitive prices and responsive service.   Our competitive fees keep your payroll costs down while our in-house expertise adds value to the payroll process. With the support of our Certified Public Accounting and Technologies departments, Canon Capital can answer your questions quickly and be responsive to your special needs.

We eliminate the pain of in-house payroll processing. By providing services not always available with other payroll groups, such as withholding and reporting local and LST taxes, Canon Capital takes the effort out of payroll. From the simple conversion and start-up through comprehensive, easy-to-read reporting, our payroll services save you time, money and stress.

Request a Quote:

Free Technology Review

We will perform a free Technology Review for your business! This service is performed at your location, and includes over 40 inspection points on your computer systems, peripherals and software.  We will inspect items such as:

  • Your network file server – condition, capacity, strengths, weaknesses
  • Network infrastructure (cabling, connectors, hubs, switches, etc)
  • Data loss protection – backups, tape rotations, etc.
  • Virus protection
  • Internet connectivity, speed, reliability
  • Peripherals (printers, modems, scanners, etc.)
  • Software – applications that make you efficient and help you to run your business
  • Workstations – we will inspect several of your Windows based workstations

Upon completion of the on site Technology Review our analysts will evaluate your information back at our office.  We will then provide you with a professional document which outlines your current systems and software, areas of strength, and areas that need improvement WITH specific suggestions for increasing efficiency and profitability.

Please call Kent Gerhart at 215-723-4881 x131 to arrange for your free Technology Review today.

Resources

Health Care’s New Electronic Marketplace First came self managed 401(k)’s. Get ready for self-managed medical plans and the multibillion dollar internet marketplace they will spawn.  Publisher: Strategy-business.com. Author: J. Philip Lathrop, Gary D. Ahiquist and Daivd G. Knott

Features

Is your company’s benefit plan the best it can be? Do you have any concerns or questions about it? Considering your 401(k) plan, for instance:

  • Are you getting good service at a reasonable price?
  • Do employees understand the plan and their investment options?
  • Is investment performance meeting your expectations?
  • Are you concerned about fiduciary responsibility and potential liabilities?
  • Can employees access their plan account information and perform basic transactions on-line?
  • Are you getting prompt, personal attention?

We’re the “daily-valuation” expert.  We specialize in 401(k) problem solving and in maximizing the value of 401(k) plans for employers and employees. Clients enjoy our:

  • Obsessive handholding throughout all statges of the plan administration cycle
  • Relentless focus on maximizing contributions made on behalf of the owners/key personnel, while keeping the expense for the employees’ company contributions in check
  • Abundant, diverse participant investment education and advisory
  • Quick report turn-around time

Employee Benefits Overview

  • Plan Installation
  • Participant Record Keeping
  • Compliance Testing
  • Investment Advisory & Education
  • Government Forms Preparation

Our consultants custom tailor each program to best meet the employer-client’s needs, while still providing a benefit appreciated by the employees:

1.   Retirement Plans

  • SEP’s
  • SAR-SEP’s (Pre-1997 plans are grandfathered)
  • SIMPLE plans
  • Profit Sharing Plans, including New-Comparability
  • 401(k) Plans
  • 403(b) Plans

2.   College Savings

  • 529 Plans

3.   Cafeteria Plans

  • Premium Only Plans
  • Flexible Spending Accounts

Retirement

The retirement safety nets that have existed in the past like Social Security really are a thing of the past. Worse yet, even if they were set in stone they’re not likely to provide enough for the lifestyle you’d like to enjoy with your grandchildren and hopefully great grandchildren!

Add to that the fact that we are all living longer, so we’re dependent on the income we generate throughout our working lives for many more years than previously thought – clearly retirement planning is vital.

Retirement planning is not a luxury – it is an absolute necessity. You have to think about how much you’ll need, when to retire, how to achieve enough retirement income to enjoy the lifestyle you want for your later years and what will the government have to contribute if anything?

We take into account your current lifestyle, income levels, projected income leading up to retirement and create a plan that is going to support your needs now and in retirement. While it is hard to predict what the future holds, it’s easy to ensure that yours has at a very minimum the lifestyle you know you want. Talk with one of our specialist team members today on how best to prepare for a comfortable retirement.

Estate Planning

Estate planning, the process of planning how to preserve your assets for your heirs, is not just for the very wealthy. Everyone should engage in some form of estate planning. After working hard for many years, building up a business, and accumulating assets, you should make sure that those assets will not be unnecessarily used up but are preserved for your survivors. Here’s a basic guide to wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools.

An Overview
What constitutes your estate? Essentially, it includes everything you own at the time of your death minus your debts. Occasionally, rules can apply which may bring back into your estate assets you’ve given away, or thought you’d given away.

Taxation considerations for your estate will vary depending on factors such as where you live and the total value of your estate. That’s why it’s so important for you to speak with your accountant to determine the most appropriate way for you to establish an estate plan that works for you.

In addition to a last will and testament, there are other important tools and documents you should consider:

  • Trust
  • Postmortem letter
  • Life insurance

Trusts
A common misconception is that trusts are only suited for use by the very wealthy. That is just not the case today. People of a wide variety of income levels use them as estate planning tools. Trusts are complex and costly to set up and run, requiring a higher level of services from an attorney than wills. They are useful in accomplishing various estate and financial planning goals. Trusts can be used for many worthwhile purposes, some of which are listed below:

  • Giving property to children
  • Reducing estate taxes
  • Leaving assets to a spouse
  • Providing for life insurance used to pay estate tax

Your accountant, together with your attorney will be able to advise you if a trust is a viable proposition for you.

Postmortem Letter
If you pass away, will anyone but you know where your tax records and supporting tax documents are located? How about your important documents such as deeds, titles, wills, insurance papers? Do these people know who your accountant/ your lawyer/ your broker is? By failing to leave your heirs this information, it will cause a lot of headaches and may also result in additional taxes and costs being incurred without the appropriate documentation.

Life Insurance
The main purpose of life insurance is to provide for the welfare of survivors. But life insurance can also serve as an estate-planning tool. For example, it can be used to finance the payment of future estate taxes or to finance a buy-out of a deceased’s interest in a business. It can also be used to pay funeral and final expenses and debts.