AKRON, Ohio, Jan. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Risk International, a leading risk and benefits management firm, announced today that its Employee Benefits Advisory division (RIBA) will provide the first-of-its-kind Fiduciary Advisory Service. This offering is a natural evolution of RIBA's ground-breaking, conflict-free advisory services that have driven millions of dollars in benefits and health care cost savings for clients over the past five years. Through its fiduciary role, RIBA provides expert guidance that is in complete alignment with its clients' best interests. Although fiduciary advisors can be found in the retirement plan arena, this is the first time a fiduciary service is being made available to optimize and protect employee benefits plans.

A critical element of an employer's fiduciary responsibility is its ability to avoid conflicts of interest and demonstrate diligence that plan costs (with ever-increasing employee cost sharing) are being well managed. In today's benefits and health care economy, this responsibility is increasingly difficult for employers to meet because procuring and managing health and welfare benefits doesn't follow standard supply chain practices. Without a fiduciary advisor, employers are unable to access impartial expert guidance and representation.

"Our services have always met a fiduciary standard in principle and have enabled us to drive significant year-over-year savings for our clients, with an average savings of $1,650 per employee in 2018," says Eric Krieg, president of RIBA. "By taking on a formal co-fiduciary role, we now provide the highest duty of care by law in our client advising and advocacy, setting a standard that is unreachable by industry stakeholders with inherent conflicts of interest. As the industry exposes employers to more and more fiduciary risk, we empower our clients to fully exercise their rights. This changes the game in favor of our clients' and their employees' interests, compelling the deepest disclosure and accountability from all service providers. It puts our clients in the driver's seat, gets them to a better place faster, and gives them the control to stay there. Quite simply, we see an emerging risk management issue, and we won't let our clients be exposed or compromised."

According to Krieg, RIBA is able to achieve better results than the traditional benefits scheme thanks to this co-fiduciary representation combined with its BEST Platform^© (Benefits Excellence System and Tools), which is a unique performance management process that departs from dependence on the broker/carrier product-driven cycle.

"Our BEST Platform deploys powerful business-caliber modules to address under-managed dimensions of benefits performance," says Neil Quinn, RIBA's vice president of strategic initiatives. "It includes our rigorous IQ-J Supply Chain Management^© and P3 Procure-Provide-Perform^© continuous improvement processes to help ensure maximal fiduciary diligence that results in a highly cost-effective and participant-beneficial plan. For the first time, employers have the control to manage their benefits spending and performance with the excellence they demand in other areas of their businesses."

RIBA's unique fiduciary service model and BEST Platform are positioned to head off looming employee benefits fiduciary risk pitfalls like those that have adversely impacted employers in the retirement plans arena, resulting in more than $2 billion in settlements to date.

For more information about how RIBA's industry-exclusive Fiduciary Advisory and BEST Platform help employers cut costs and reduce risk without cost-shifting to employees or reducing benefits, contact [email protected] or call (216) 255-3400.

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SOURCE Risk International Benefits Advisors