Fees

[Guest tintree73]

Does anyone know when fees sent back to either the plan or the investment advisor for the plan from the mutual fund (that is an investment under the 401(k) plan) are plan assets - and therefore there must be a determination by a fiduciary of the plan that they be reasonable, etc. ?

Does it make a difference if instead of fees coming back to the plan, an affiliate (they specifically used this term so I think it has some significance) of the plan provids a discount on a service the affiliate provides to the plan?

I am a bit confused about all this, how it works and how it impacts my plan.

[mbozek]

What are the terms under which the plan is entitiled to receive fees from the mutual fund? Who determines the amount of the refund?

[Guest tintree73]

I just looked at the base plan and the adoption agreement and they are (unfortunately) silent regarding this issue. Also, the mutual fund would determine the amount of the fee sent (or the discount).

[IRC401]

Are you referring to a rebate of 12b-1 or sub-TA fees from a mutual fund to the plan?

What must be reasonable is the the amount of plan assets used to pay administrative expenses. A rebate of fees to the plan is a reduction of the administrative expense.

[Guest tintree73]

It really is a bit different b/c it could be fashioned as a discount on advice, software for the plan (not recordkeeping), etc. Would such discounts, etc. fall under the same PTE issues as the 12-b-1 and sub-TA fees?