I run a small company and a few years ago we instituted a 401k plan as an employee benefit (that I also take advantage of, as an owner/employee). I was advised by my "Financial Advisor" which company and funds to put in the plan. I thought I was doing a lot of research and making sure that the plan would be good for me, good for employees and good for the company...but there were so many decisions to make, I recognize now that I was steered into funds that are not the best. Basically, they are R shares (so the advisor gets a cut), plus they are obviously mutual funds (so the mutual fund company gets a cut). So while they may not have astronomically high expense ratios (I've seen worse), they are high enough that they wouldn't be what I'd choose...the average total expense ratio is about 3%.
My problem is this...it seems like a giant pain to move the plan to a new company: my "adviser"(of course) strenuously opposes it, my employees will be freaked out if I start making huge changes to a very new plan, and there's probably a risk I'll just end up in another plan with similar expense ratios. Does anyone here know whether (and how) I can cut my advisor out of this loop and negotiate fund selection directly with the mutual fund company? Or would you recommend I just take the plunge, admit the error to employees, and roll the whole thing to someplace like Vanguard? Or is it possible to take a chicken-hearted approach, and can I roll my 401k to a personal IRA with lower expenses? (I'm not even sure if the latter is legal.)
Thanks for any advice...much appreciated!