Who We Work With

Fiduciary Governance Advisors works with advisors and fiduciaries responsible for the oversight of defined contribution retirement plans and their default investments.

Our work is designed to complement existing advisory and legal relationships, not replace them.

Advisors to Defined Contribution Plans

Advisors use our Default Investment Governance Suite to strengthen fiduciary oversight of default investments without disrupting client relationships or investment selection and advisory responsibilities. The Diagnostic and Framework provide a defensible governance record that advisors can reference in committee meetings, fiduciary files, and hindsight review, while preserving the advisor’s role as the plan’s primary fiduciary partner.

Common advisor use cases include:

  • Supporting investment committees that rely heavily on target-date fund defaults

  • Addressing governance questions that sit outside traditional manager selection

  • Enhancing documentation around glide-path risk, active management, and monitoring

  • Responding to trustee or sponsor requests for deeper governance clarity

Advisors remain responsible for investment advice and implementation.
Our role is to provide independent governance analysis and documentation that advisors can rely on.

Trust Companies and Fiduciaries

Trust companies and fiduciaries increasingly serve plans sponsored by closely held, family-owned, and founder-led businesses. These plans often lack internal investment staff but face the same fiduciary expectations as larger plans.

Trust officers and fiduciaries rely on a documented QDIA governance framework to:

  • Support independent oversight of default investments

  • Clarify governance expectations for committees

  • Maintain durable documentation suitable for fiduciary files

  • Provide fiduciary continuity across committee or trustee transitions

Our work is structured to fit comfortably within trust and fiduciary governance frameworks.

Investment Committees

Investment committees without dedicated internal investment staff often rely heavily on default investments to shape participant outcomes.

Committees often begin with a QDIA governance review to:

  • Better understand how their default investment is designed

  • Clarify what risks are being taken on behalf of participants

  • Establish a clear governance framework going forward

  • Improve documentation quality without changing investments

Our role is to support informed fiduciary judgment — not to direct it.

How Engagements Typically Begin

Most engagements begin through:

  • Advisor introductions

  • Trust-company or fiduciary referrals

  • Committee requests for governance review

Engagements are scoped on a plan-by-plan basis and tailored to the plan’s structure, demographics, and fiduciary context.

Silhouette of a person working at a desk in front of large windows with an urban cityscape outside
Black and white photo of a modern high-rise building with a grid of square windows, viewed from a low angle against a dark sky.
An empty conference room with a large oval table and twelve black leather chairs, decorated with framed awards and pictures on light blue walls.