Employee Information Sharing with Multiple Service Providers

The IRS requires employers to evaluate participant activity across multiple 403(b) investment providers and vendors — such as GuideStone^® — to ensure that participants do not request transactions beyond the plan limitations.

Even if you currently have only one 403(b) investment provider or vendor, if you have allowed contributions to more than one 403(b) investment provider or vendor since December 31, 2004, you will need to know about participants with accumulations with those prior 403(b) investment providers or vendors. This information is needed in the event that those participants request certain transactions — such as loans or hardship distributions — as plan requirements often limit the frequency and amount of these transactions.

If the complications of maintaining multiple providers prove too cumbersome, GuideStone provides sample language to be used for a Change of Provider Letter for your convenience and can be obtained by asking your relationship manager.

While utilizing a sole provider like GuideStone can help streamline plan administration, the following information is designed to help you ensure you’re meeting the necessary requirements should you have multiple service providers.

Establishing an Information Sharing Agreement (ISA)

The IRS requires that employers enter into an ISA with the issuers of certain contracts under the 403(b) plan. Under the ISA, the employer and the issuer must agree that they will, from time to time in the future, provide each other with the information necessary for the issuer’s 403(b) contract(s) under the plan to satisfy IRS requirements.

For your convenience, GuideStone would like to provide you a sample Information Sharing Agreement.

This sample ISA provides:

• A set of sample contractual provisions, with italicized user notes.
• A list of the data elements and information collectively agreed upon as minimally necessary for issuers and vendors to exchange.

Please note that this sample ISA has not been reviewed, approved or authorized by the Treasury Department or the IRS as meeting the requirements of any applicable rules or regulations. GuideStone does not provide legal advice. Users of this sample agreement should consult with their legal counsel prior to using this document. Additionally, the sample ISA does not address “how” such data elements and information will be shared between 403(b) issuers, plan administrators, recordkeepers and other vendors.

The employer may need to negotiate with vendors regarding the timeframe in this document’s sections 2(d)(i) and (ii).

The sample ISA is designed to be used as an independent, stand-alone agreement. However, it may be modified for use as an attachment to an existing or more comprehensive agreement between the employer and an issuer.

Maintaining Your Authorized Vendor Appendix

The IRS also requires that employers coordinate information among their 403(b) authorized providers and vendors. In addition, employers must list all providers and vendors included under their 403(b) plan with GuideStone. The regulations also require that plan documents must be in place and the operation of the plan must follow the plan document precisely; therefore, it is vitally important that the employer maintain a current list of authorized providers and vendors and ensure that each is categorized appropriately.

To assist you with the above-mentioned regulatory requirements, GuideStone created an online tool to help you complete your Vendor Appendix. If you’ve added or removed any investment providers or vendors under your plan, please update your Vendor Appendix via the GuideStone Employer Access^® Program (EAP) under the Document Center as soon as possible.

The Vendor Appendix helps employers by:

• Creating a list of authorized providers and vendors that is incorporated into the employer’s 403(b) plan document by reference;
• Allowing employers to add or remove authorized providers and vendors without requiring an amendment to the adoption agreement;
• Categorizing authorized providers and vendors as (1) approved for ongoing contributions, (2) approved for contract exchanges only or (3) not approved for either ongoing contributions or contract exchanges;
• Providing a tool to communicate to confirm GuideStone has been and continues to be the employer’s sole provider and vendor and provides GuideStone all the information needed to coordinate 403(b) compliance functions regarding certain participant transactions such as loans and hardships.

Accessing the tool:

• Log into EAP
• Find and select the "Document Center" section of the dashboard
• Choose the tab “Retirement Plan Documentation”
• Choose "403(b)(9)" as the type
• Choose "Vendor Appendix" to view the tool

If an employer has indicated in the past that GuideStone is the sole authorized provider and vendor and the employer adds a new authorized provider or vendor, the employer should update its Vendor Appendix through EAP.

Evaluating and Sharing Participant Activity Across Plans

If you are part of a multi-provider relationship, you can follow the steps below to evaluate and share participant activity with the other providers:

• Log into EAP
• Choose “Employees”
• Select a specific participant name
• Choose “Information Sharing” on the left-hand bar

Once on the “Information Sharing” page, you can quickly find the 403(b) information you need to monitor compliance and approve transactions for participants who have accumulations with GuideStone.

Additionally, GuideStone provides plan sponsors a Multiple Provider Booklet that can be found in the “Resources” underneath the “Plan Compliance” section as a guide on plan sponsor responsibilities and information sharing for plans with multiple providers.

Remember, your GuideStone relationship manager is here to discuss any concerns you have about operating under the Code Section 403(b) regulations. If you are not familiar with EAP, talk with your relationship manager about how to use this tool to help manage your 403(b) retirement plan. Please do not hesitate to contact us for information about how to update your Vendor Appendix.