ESOP Plan Administration
An independent Plan Administrator for your ESOP
Admin316 is appointed in writing as your ESOP’s ERISA §3(16) Plan Administrator and §402(a) named fiduciary. We make the administrator’s decisions, give the directions to your TPA and trustee, and carry the fiduciary responsibility that usually sits with company officers.
Why ESOP companies bring us in
In most ESOPs the company is the Plan Administrator, which in practice means a CFO, HR director, or ESOP committee made up of employees who are also participants. They decide who gets paid, when, and in what form, they administer the put option and diversification, and they sign the Form 5500. Those are fiduciary decisions with real dollars attached, and the people making them often have their own accounts in the plan.
Your TPA calculates and your trustee holds the stock and handles stock transactions. The administrator’s decisions in between often have no independent owner. That is the role we fill. Your TPA, trustee, appraiser, and auditor all stay in place.
What we take on
- Year-end census review and approval, eligibility, and vesting determinations
- Allocation review and approval once the annual valuation is final
- Distribution decisions, timing, and form of payment under your plan and distribution policy
- Put option, right of first refusal, and segregation of former employees’ accounts
- Diversification notices and elections for participants age 55 with 10 years
- Review of the §409(p) S corporation test and §415 limits
- Benefit claims and appeals, QDROs, death claims, and missing participants
- Audit coordination, signing and filing the Form 5500, and required participant notices
- Annual review of your TPA’s and trustee’s services and fees, with a written report to the board
What stays where it is
We do not vote shares, set the stock value, or decide stock purchases, sales, or ESOP loans. Those remain with your trustee and ESOP committee under your trust agreement. We are not a recordkeeper, TPA, or trustee, and we do not hold plan assets.
How pricing works
A flat annual fee based on headcount and workload, paid by the company. It never moves with the value of your stock. We quote after reading your plan document, trust agreement, and latest Form 5500, and the quote comes with a written scope of work showing exactly what we do, what your TPA does, and what your trustee does.
Send us your plan documents for a free review
We will read your plan document, trust agreement, and Form 5500 and come back with a scope of work and a fixed quote.
Admin316: ERISA §402(a) Named Fiduciary and §3(16) Plan Administrator.
