The Grace 401(k) — Transparent, Low-Cost Retirement Plans for Employers
SCROLLDo You Know What Your 401(k) Actually Costs?
For most plan sponsors, retirement-plan fees are buried, bundled, and nearly impossible to read. That lack of transparency can quietly cost your employees a meaningful share of their retirement savings over time — see the hypothetical below.
Hidden & Bundled Fees
Advisor, fund, administration, and custodian costs are often rolled together — making the true total nearly invisible on a statement.
Expensive Share Classes
Many plans hold retail share classes when far cheaper institutional classes of the very same fund are available.
Unclear Fiduciary Roles
As a plan fiduciary, you're legally required to ensure fees are reasonable — but that's hard to do if no one will show you the real numbers.
Appearances vs. Reality
Two plans can look identical on the surface and cost wildly different amounts underneath. Here's what optimizing a sample $10M plan can look like.
Total annual cost across advisor, fund, administration & custodian fees.
Same investment goals — restructured for lower cost and full transparency.
In this hypothetical, the typical plan costs roughly 75% more for comparable services. As a fiduciary, your duty is to pay only reasonable plan expenses — so that's a question worth asking, year after year. Actual fees and savings vary by plan; no level of savings is guaranteed.
Same Fund, Very Different Price
The American Funds EUPAC Fund (formerly EuroPacific Growth) is held in thousands of 401(k) plans — and sold in fourteen different share classes (not counting six more 529 classes). The fund is identical in every one. Only the price changes.
| Share Class | Relative Cost | Net Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| AEPCX – Class C Retail | 1.58% | |
| RERBX – Class R-2 | 1.57% | |
| RERAX – Class R-1 | 1.57% | |
| REEBX – Class R-2E | 1.27% | |
| RERCX – Class R-3 | 1.12% | |
| AEGFX – Class F-1 | 0.86% | |
| AEPGX – Class A Commission | 0.83% | |
| TEUPX – Class T | 0.83% | |
| REREX – Class R-4 | 0.82% | |
| RERHX – Class R-5E | 0.62% | |
| AEPFX – Class F-2 | 0.59% | |
| RERFX – Class R-5 | 0.52% | |
| FEUPX – Class F-3 | 0.47% | |
| RERGX – Class R-6 Institutional | 0.47% |
Source: EUPAC Fund statutory prospectus filed with the SEC (Form 485BPOS, May 2026; effective June 1, 2026) and Capital Group fund pages. Expense ratios change over time. Class C costs more than 3x the institutional R-6 class — for the exact same underlying fund. A participant holding the retail class pays roughly 1.1% more of their balance in expenses each year that they remain in that share class — largely to cover distribution and service costs rather than investment management. Share-class availability depends on plan size and platform.
How We Add Value
We re-engineer the plan from the ground up — lower cost, higher quality, single-source accountability.
Lower Fund Expenses
Move to institutional share classes of the same funds your participants already hold.
Competitive Advisory Pricing
Fair, transparent advisory fees with no hidden revenue-sharing arrangements.
Right-Priced Custodian
We source a competitively priced custodian instead of accepting bundled defaults.
Full Transparency
You see every fee, in plain dollars — no bundling, no surprises.
Better Technology
Improved participant platform and accessibility, with a higher-quality experience.
Single-Source Accountability
One team responsible for the whole plan — no finger-pointing between providers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you do it — and what's the trade-off?
We run lean: low overhead, no redundant staffing, and efficient processes — a small firm's flexibility combined with institutional-class access typically associated with much larger organizations. Our compensation is transparent and disclosed up front. From the beginning, Grace Capital set out to be different in process so we could be different in what clients experience.
What is my role as a fiduciary?
Per the U.S. Department of Labor, plan fiduciaries must act solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries; carry out their duties prudently; follow the plan documents (unless inconsistent with ERISA); diversify plan investments; and pay only reasonable plan expenses.
How long is the process?
It varies depending on your current setup and providers. We do the legwork for you so you can focus on running your business, and we commit to minimizing the time your company has to invest in the transition.
What's the next step?
To get started, we only need two items: your plan's Form 408(b)(2) fee disclosure (ticker symbols, funds, etc.) and your plan's most recent statement of fund balances. From there, we'll show you what you're paying today — and where there may be room to reduce costs.
See What Your Plan Is Really Costing You
Send us your fee disclosure and latest statement. We'll benchmark your plan and show you the numbers in plain dollars — no obligation.
Request a Plan Review →Fund example: American Funds EUPAC Fund (formerly EuroPacific Growth Fund, renamed effective June 1, 2025). Share-class expense ratios shown are sourced from the EUPAC Fund statutory prospectus filed with the SEC (Form 485BPOS, May 2026; effective June 1, 2026) and Capital Group fund pages. The fourteen classes shown exclude the fund's six additional 529 share classes. Expense ratios change over time; always refer to the current prospectus before investing.
Hypothetical $10M plan illustrations and "GCM Plan" comparisons are illustrative only. Actual plan fees vary by plan size, participant count, services selected, and provider arrangements, and no level of cost savings is guaranteed. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and all investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. References to specific funds are illustrative only and are not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Nothing on this page is individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. Discuss any investment decision with your financial advisor, tax advisor, and ERISA counsel.
Investment advisory services offered through Grace Capital Management, LLC, an SEC-Registered Investment Adviser (CRD #150054). When engaged as investment adviser to a retirement plan, Grace Capital Management typically serves as an ERISA 3(21) fiduciary, with 3(38) discretionary management available; the applicable capacity is set forth in the advisory agreement. Securities offered through Concorde Investment Services, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services and brokerage services are separate, and compensation differs between them. Custody of assets provided by Fidelity Investments (National Financial Services LLC). Earl Proeger, Series 7 & 63 registered representative. This page is intended for plan sponsor and employer use.