Reducing Costs Without Sacrificing Performance
Construction Company Reduces Retirement Plan Fees by 95%1 and Increases Investment Quality by 69%1
At a Glance
Situation
- A fiduciary must always act in the best interest of their employees.
- This includes evaluating their Retirement Plan Advisor on their services and fees.
- Phillips | Collins was experiencing poor returns and high costs for their 401(k) plan under the previous advisor.
Results
- Fisher\SMB improved the company’s investment quality by 69%.1
- The company’s fees were reduced by more than 95%.1
- Employees began receiving ongoing, proactive guidance and education.
2 Centre for Fiduciary Excellence (CEFEX). Fisher\SMB pays an annual assessment fee to be eligible for consideration. This certification was received on November 23, 2025, and is based on data from November 23, 2024–November 23, 2025.
Challenge
Building and remodeling custom homes and condominiums
has always been successful for Atlanta-based Phillips | Collins
Construction Group, but when it came to their retirement plan,
husband-wife leadership team Patricia Brown and Keiffer Phillips
found it hard to build wealth for themselves and their employees.
“With our previous advisor and plan, we had a very limited number
of mutual funds to choose from,” said Keiffer. “In addition, the plan’s
performance over the years was, in our opinion, bad. It wasn’t good
at all.”
As the sponsors of their plan, they understood it was their fiduciary
responsibility to act in the best interests of their plan participants,
so they began evaluating new advisors. That’s when they found
Fisher\SMB.
Objective
401(k) plan sponsors and administrators take on a lot of personal
risk if they don’t pick the right advisor.
As a 3(38) advisor, Fisher\SMB minimizes this liability by taking on more fiduciary risk. Fisher\SMB also ranks among the top 1% of
advisors globally and is certified by the Centre for Fiduciary
Excellence (CEFEX)2 because of its retirement planning approach.
That’s part of what attracted Phillips | Collins to Fisher\SMB.
Before Fisher\SMB, we met just once per year with our previous advisor, and that’s all that he was really obligated to do. Since we made the move to Fisher\SMB, the contact and the involvement between their team and ours is 100-fold of what it was prior.
Testimonials are representative of client views at the time collected. Clients are not compensated financially or otherwise for testimonials. There are no known material conflicts of interest between the client and Fisher\SMB that could influence the testimonial content.
Solution
The Fisher\SMB team took immediate action, comprehensively evaluating Phillips | Collins’ existing 401(k) plan and providers and making recommendations on where they should reduce fees. Fisher\SMB then guided the company through a recordkeeper transfer process, helping
them revamp their fund selection to higher-performing options.
Fisher\SMB started a program of proactive education and guidance for Phillps | Collins employees. Even today, its service team provides ongoing support, so they can maximize investment opportunities, meet their goals, and stay on track for a comfortable retirement.
“Before Fisher\SMB, we met just once per year with our previous advisor, and that’s all that he was really obligated to do,” said Keiffer. “Since we made the move to Fisher\SMB , the contact and the involvement between their team and ours is 100-fold of what it was prior.”
Results
- Improved Investment Quality: Fisher\SMB helped Phillips | Collins improve their investment quality by 69%1 by researching and suggesting different funds.
- Reduced Costs: After an evaluation of Phillips | Collins’ plan components, Fisher\SMB reduced investment fees by 95%.1
- Better Service: Fisher\SMB provides more frequent and more proactive attention to the company’s plan needs, helping sponsors and employees alike.
- Ongoing Proactive Education: Fisher\SMB offers ongoing employee education and support to help them grow their savings and make informed decisions.
Our Investment Services
We believe any retirement advisors offer a cookie-cutter approach to investing. This can often result in an investment allocation that is not ideal for meeting retirement goals. Fisher\SMB, on the other hand, takes a more personal approach to investing that begins with a one-on-one discussion with each employee to determine their needs. They then tailor a goals-based investment allocation that focuses on optimal retirement outcomes. Fisher\SMB supports this approach with ongoing proactive education and routine check-ins with employees.
Upgrade Your Plan with Fisher\SMB
Contact us today to see how we can help you offer your employees high-quality investments to set them up on the path to a comfortable retirement.
- 1Investment quality is determined using the Fi360 Fiduciary Score®, a peer percent ranking of an investment against a set of quantitative due diligence criteria selected to reflect prudent fiduciary management. Investment fees are based on the Prospectus Net Expense Ratio, the percentage of investment assets used to pay for operating expenses and management fees. The change in investment quality and investment fees are determined by calculating the percent change between the asset-weighted Fi360 Fiduciary Score® and the asset-weighted Prospectus Net Expense Ratio of the plan’s fund lineup prior to becoming a Fisher\SMB client and that of a similarly allocated lineup of funds offered by Fisher\SMB using investment data for the quarter ending 09/30/2023.
Learn MOre
Fisher\SMB Case Studies
How 3 partners can increase their 401(k)
Consider how highly compensated employees can maximize their 401(k) contributions. Find out if you’re a good fit for a Safe Harbor 401(k).
Breaking Barriers. Boosting Participation
Language is a major barrier for many employees. Our multilingual counselors offer support in English and Spanish, plus translation services in other languages.