PLANADVISER - March/April 2018 - 31

serves more than 74,000 participants.
" At Francis Investment Counsel, we
recognize the struggles plan sponsors
and participants face, " Francis says.
" We saw the financial services industry
rife with conflicts-conflicts that
often remained beneath the surface,
undetectable to the untaught eye. For
this exact reason, we structured our
firm to bring to life a straightforward
service model, one completely absent
of conflicts, financial transactions and
variable compensation. "
The Francis
Investment Counsel
team intentionally focuses only on
qualified plan consulting, in order
to provide a level of expertise and
insight that, members say, plan sponsors
cannot get from an adviser who
practices part time, in today's everchanging
space.
The firm provides two services in
the marketplace: Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary
advice to plan sponsors, through
investment consulting, and holistic,
ERISA fiduciary advice to participants.
" As other advisers scramble to
adjust to new rules and regulations,
we remain steadfast, unchanged in our
commitment to connect the people we
serve-both plan sponsors and plan
participants-to the ERISA fiduciary
advice they need, " Francis says.
Francis Investment Counsel prides
itself on being independent and transparent.
It is 100% employee owned
with no broker/dealer (B/D) affiliation.
It executes no trades and holds no
client assets. " When we say we're independent,
we mean it in the only true
sense of the word-no spin, no strings
attached, no small print, " Francis says.
All of the firm's revenue comes from
fixed, hard-dollar fees paid upfront
by its plan sponsor clients. Francis
also accepts no payment of any kind
from organizations that a client might,
someday, ask the team to evaluate on
its behalf.
Plan sponsors can rest easy knowing
that when the Francis team educates
and advises their employees, it has
no products or additional services to
sell. Rather, it concentrates on helping
workers answer vital financial questions
such as, " How much should I
" We're proud of how far we've come,
but even more, of the positive impact
we'll continue to drive as more plan
sponsors and their employees have
access to our services. "
save? " and " Where should I invest? "
" We were ahead of our time in our
choice to focus exclusively on the qualified
plan marketplace, " Francis says.
To help with retirement readiness,
Francis Investment Counsel provides
one-on-one face time with thousands
of American workers every year. The
MoneyAdvice@Work team is devoted
to employee education and personal
financial planning services. Although
employees want tools and technology to
help them prepare for retirement, they
also want personalized help, according
to the firm. Technology has changed
the industry, but Francis Investment
Counsel remains committed to
building relationships with people and
believes that the human connection
is uncommon in an industry moving
away from personal interactions and
toward robotic offerings.
" While our services have modified
to incorporate increased technology,
[so we could] reach out to greater
populations, we remain committed
to building relationships with people,
through our people, " Francis says.
These participant interactions then
provide a foundation for proactive,
participant-focused recommendations
to plan sponsors. The result: better
cost, design and utilization, he says.
But that is certainly not to say
Francis neglects the use of technology
to help workers prepare for retirement.
The firm offers an easy way
to assist employees between one-onones
with advisers, with the MoneyAdvice@Work
mobile app, launched
this year, that assists users in tracking
their spending habits and retirement
readiness. The app gives plan sponsors
a financial wellness offering for
their employees, at a time when this
benefit is growing quite popular. The
employee-adviser relationship can be
strengthened even more thanks to
the interactions and engagement that
can result from workers using the app,
according to the firm.
When it comes to growing their
business, team members still believe
in picking up the phone and making a
call, as well as getting referrals from
current clients. Francis
is well-positioned
to continue growing its business
in the future, the firm predicts,
noting its strategy of fusing its investment
consulting expertise at the plan
level with innovative technology and
personal interactions at the participant
level. The firm also takes part in
relevant professional groups, gradually
building relationships that keep the
business top of mind when opportunities
arise.
Francis
Investment Counsel now
works with 14 recordkeeping organizations,
and the firm's clients typically
have long-term relationships with their
recordkeepers. The team believes that
most issues its clients encounter with
their recordkeepers can be resolved
with effective communication and the
drive to serve the plan sponsor's best
interests.
Every day, those on the Francis
Investment Counsel team say they see
how their services can change people's
lives-whether that's in the relief of
a plan sponsor when the firm helps it
design a prudent oversight process, or
of employees when they realize they
can achieve their financial goals with
the help of Francis' financial coaches.
" We're proud of how far we've come,
but even more, of the positive impact
we'll continue to drive as more plan
sponsors and their employees have
access to our services, " Francis says.
-Corie Hengst
planadviser.com march-april 2018 | 31
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - March/April 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - March/April 2018
