System and method for evaluating defined contribution plans

Abstract

A system and method for comparing retirement plans against a selected group of similar plans is disclosed. In one embodiment, a computer system for evaluating a retirement plan comprises a computer server having a database comprising a plurality of data defining a plurality of characteristics of each of a plurality of retirement plans, software configured for identifying a subset of the plurality of retirement plans having characteristics comparable to characteristics of a selected retirement plan, software configured for permitting the selection of at least one report from a plurality of report types, and software configured for automatically generating the selected at least one report, where the at least one report comprises an evaluation of the characteristics of the selected retirement plan against the characteristics of the subset of the plurality of retirement plans.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for evaluating a selected defined contribution retirement plan, comprising:
 at one web server configured to:
 a. collect, via a web interface, user-selected settings from a user for generation of a retirement plan comparison report; 
 b. collect, via data input fields of the web interface, plan data from the user for the selected contribution retirement, wherein the plan data numerically and qualitatively defines characteristics of the selected defined contribution retirement plan; 
 c. electronically receive, via the web interface, a request from the user for the generation of the report; and 
 d, electronically deliver, via the web interface, the report to the user to provide proof of meeting fiduciary requirements when evaluating the selected defined contribution retirement plan; 
   a database server configured to:
 a. store the user-selected settings for the generation of the report; and 
 b. store collected plan data of the selected defined contribution retirement plan and other plan data of other defined contribution retirement plans in a database, wherein the other plan data numerically and qualitatively defines characteristics of the other defined contribution retirement plans; and 
   a batch processor configured to:
 a. in response to the at least one web server receiving the request for the report, automatically generate, in real-time, a list of sort factors configured for quickly filtering the other defined contribution retirement plans for comparison with the selected defined contribution retirement plan, wherein, to generate the list of sort factors, the batch processor is configured to execute preprogrammed rules to determine how many sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors based on the selected defined contribution retirement plan and the other defined contribution retirement plans; 
 f. based on the list of sort factors, automatically identify, in real-time, a subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans that are most similar to the selected defined contribution retirement plan; 
 g. automatically compare, in real-time, components of the selected defined contribution retirement plan to respective components of the subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans, wherein the components include fee components, cost components, and value components; and 
 h. based on the comparisons and the user-selected settings, automatically generate, in real-time, a report to include a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the selected defined contribution retirement plan relative to the subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to facilitate the collection of the plan data via the data input fields, the batch processor is configured to cause the at least one web server to dynamically auto-complete, in real-time, one or more of the data input fields upon receiving an indication of data being entered in the one or more of the data input fields. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the batch processor is configured to generate and the at least one web server is configured to electronically deliver the report at predetermined intervals, wherein the assessment in the report identifies changes in the other defined contribution retirement plans over time. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to collect the plan data for the selected defined contribution retirement plan via the interface, the at least one web servers configured to collect the plan data via one or more HTML interface pages. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to store the plan data in the database, the database server is configured to store the plan data in XML format in an SQL database. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to automatically generate the list of sort factors, the batch processor is configured to flexibly determine how many of the sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to automatically generate the list of sort factors, the batch processor is configured to determine that how many of the sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors are fixed. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the list of sort factors includes at least one of a dollar amount of plan assets, a number of plan participants, a last year that a plan has been reviewed, a company industry of a plan sponsor, a plan type, whether the plan uses automatic enrollment for the plan participants, whether an employer matches contributions to the plan from the plan participants, a percent of plan assets invested in index funds, and a percent of plan assets invested in managed accounts. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to automatically identify the subset of the other defined contribution defined retirement plans, the batch processor is configured to:
 identify characteristics from among the fee components, the cost components, and the value components that correspond to the plurality of sort factors; and   identify which of the other defined contribution retirement plans have characteristics that correspond to each of the plurality of sort factors.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to electronically deliver the report to the user, the at least one web server is configured to deliver the report in a user-selected electronic format. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein, to deliver the report in the user-selected electronic format, the at least one web server is configured to electronically deliver the report as a pdf. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to electronically deliver the report to the user, the at least one web server is configured to deliver the report via at least one of email, a hyperlink, and a web browser. 
     
     
         13 . A method of evaluating a selected defined contribution retirement plan, comprising:
 a. collecting plan data for the selected defined contribution retirement plan at one or more servers via an interface with data input fields, wherein the plan data collected by the at least one server numerically and qualitatively defines characteristics of the selected defined contribution retirement plan;   b. storing, in a database of at least one of the one or more servers, the plan data of the selected defined contribution retirement plan and other plan data of other defined contribution retirement plans;   c. collecting user-selected settings from the user at one or more servers for generation of a retirement plan comparison report;   d. storing the user-selected settings for the generation of a retirement plan comparison report;   e. in response to receiving a request a report from a user via the interface, automatically generating, in real-time via at least one of the one or more servers, a list of sort factors configured for quickly filtering the other defined contribution retirement plans for comparison with the selected defined contribution retirement plan, wherein, to generate the list of sort factors, the at least one of the one or more servers are configured to execute preprogrammed rules to determine how many sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors based on the selected defined contribution retirement plan and the other defined contribution retirement plans;   f. based on the list of sort factors, automatically identifying, in real-time via at least of the one or more servers, a subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans that are most similar to the selected defined contribution retirement plan;   g. automatically comparing, in real-time via at least one of the one or more servers, components of the selected defined contribution retirement plan to respective components of the subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans, wherein the components include fee components, cost components, and value components;   h. based on the comparisons and the user-selected settings, automatically generating, in real-time via at least one of the one or more servers, a report to include a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the selected defined contribution retirement plan relative to the subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans; and   i. electronically delivering, in real-time via at least one of the one or more servers, the report to the user to provide proof of meeting fiduciary requirements.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the steps of generating and electronically delivering the report are performed at predetermined intervals, wherein the assessment in the report identifies changes in the other defined contribution retirement plans over time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of automatically generating the list of sort factors includes flexibly determining how many of the sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of automatically generating the list of sort factors includes determining that how many of the sort factors, which of the sort factors, and criteria for each of the sort factors to include in the list of sort factors are fixed. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of automatically identifying the subset of the other defined contribution retirement plans includes:
 identifying characteristics from among the fee components, the cost components, and the value components that correspond to the plurality of sort factors; and   identifying which of the other defined contribution retirement plans have characteristics that correspond to each of the plurality of sort factors.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of electronically delivering the report to the user includes delivering the report in a user-selected electronic format. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the step of delivering the report in the user-selected electronic format includes electronically delivering the report as a pdf. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the step of electronically delivering the report to the user includes delivering the report via at least one of email, a hyperlink, and a web browser.