A company may change service providers one of two ways: through a simple transfer (deconversion) or through an external merger.
​
​In a deconversion, you’re requesting to transfer your company’s 401(k) plan out of Guideline to be serviced by another provider. In these transfers, your 401(k) plan stays the same; what changes is the provider servicing the plan. While it is not uncommon for sponsors to change plan provisions at the same time, the EIN, and plan number will not change.
​
​In an external merger, your company’s existing plan will no longer exist as its own plan, and the assets are merged into an existing 401(k) plan at a new provider. For mergers, a Final Form 5500 is filed showing that all of the plan assets have been transferred to a new plan. Therefore, what changes is both the 401(k) plan and the provider.
​
The external merger process outlined above also applies to internal mergers, where one Guideline plan is merging into another Guideline plan.
​
​