Procedures for complying with fund company market timing and excessive trading policies

The prospectuses, policies and/or procedures of certain fund companies require retirement plan providers offering their fund(s) to agree to restrict market timing and/or excessive trading (“prohibited trading") in their funds. The following procedures describe how we will comply with fund company instructions designed to prevent or minimize prohibited trading.

Various fund companies instruct intermediaries to perform standardized trade monitoring while others perform their own periodic monitoring and request trading reports when they suspect that an individual is engaging in prohibited trading. If an individual’s trading activity is determined to constitute prohibited trading, as defined by the applicable fund company, the individual will be notified that a trading restriction will be implemented if prohibited trading does not cease. (Some funds may require that trading restrictions be implemented immediately without warning, in which case notice of the restriction will be provided to the individual and plan, if applicable). If the individual continues to engage in prohibited trading, the individual will be restricted from making transfers into the identified fund(s) for a specified time period, as determined by the applicable fund company. Individuals are always permitted to make transfers out of the identified fund(s) to other available investment options. When the fund company’s restriction period has been met, the individual will automatically be allowed to resume transfers into the identified fund(s).

Additionally, if prohibited trading persists, the fund company may reject all trades initiated by the plan, including trades of individuals who have not engaged in prohibited trading.

Note: certain plan sponsors have or may elect to implement plan level restrictions to prevent or minimize individual prohibited trading. To the extent that such procedures are effective, we may not receive requests for information from the fund companies or requests to implement the restrictions described above.