Abstract
Open architecture is the technology that provides the means to open up a world of investment choice, options and ease in reporting and administration for company retirement plans and participants by enabling multiple retirement plan service providers to communicate and share data electronically. This ability to provide data to and receive data from a variety of investment providers means that the plan sponsor has more options and control in the setup and administration of its retirement plan. Perhaps the most important function that open-architecture systems provide the plan sponsor is the ability to work with multiple, independent service providers, commonly known as unbundling. This article outlines the features and benefits of open architecture and discusses how to find an open-architecture provider and why open-architecture systems make unbundling a primary choice for plan sponsors today.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.