"Custody and recordkeeping are 'commodity' services. Like any commodity, given equal quality, the key benchmark for these services is price. The cheaper you can find competent custody and recordkeeping services, the better for participants.... Investment Advice and TPA services are 'value-added' services -- the expertise of the service provider can significantly impact a plan's value to participants (or the plan sponsor). That means it can be reasonable to pay more for these services if the marginal cost of a more expensive provider is outweighed by their value.... Choose a benchmark for each service -- not the provider as a whole -- and evaluate each service against a benchmark."  MORE >>