PLANADVISER - March/April 2018 - 33

Everhart Advisors implements fee
leveling when this is possible, with
revenue sharing returned at the fund/
participant
level. And re-enrollment
to a QDIA is nothing new for the firm,
but it remains a focus because of how
it can help participants with improved
asset allocation and diversification,
not to mention can benefit fiduciaries
through the Pension Protection
Act (PPA)'s safe harbor protection.
After re-enrollment to the QDIA, the
firm says, 90% to 95% of participants
remain in it.
" In all we do, we simultaneously
seek
to
prepare
participants
and
protect plan fiduciaries, " says Brian
Hanna, senior plan consultant for
Everhart Advisors.
" We serve as a
fiduciary without caveat or exception. "
As a fee-based registered investment
adviser (RIA), Everhart prides itself
on giving impartial advice, unrelated
to any product, vendor or investment.
" We are independently owned and
not beholden to a bank or brokerage
house-our sole focus is on the client, "
Hanna stresses.
Last year, Hanna and Everhart
co-authored their first book, " The
401(k) Owner's Manual, " which guides
plan sponsors on how to create an elite
401(k) plan while maximizing fiduciary
protection. Hanna says that by
taking this approach, plan sponsors
can give employees the greatest opportunity
to achieve a secure retirement,
adding that the book reflects Everhart's
commitment to retirement success.
" We're told the first thing people
notice about us is our passion, " Hanna
says. " We are driven by our desire
for everyone to achieve the retirement
they want. We love what we do,
and we are good at it. We're not your
typical 401(k) advisory team. We don't
really fit that mold, at least not by our
personality. In an industry known for
stuffy offices, confusing jargon, inattentive
service and dull presentations,
we stand out. We call. We show up. We
listen. We engage. "
Thus, Everhart Advisors works
with clients by way of a team-based
method. Each client has a lead consultant,
relationship manager and education
specialist available to help it. The
relationship managers provide vendor
coordination and advocacy, regulatory
guidance and administrative support,
while the education specialists-acting
as fiduciaries-give recommendations
and advice to participants rather than
just information.
" We have found that our structure
of assigning a highly skilled, experienced,
and 401(k)-focused
relationship
manager to every client relationship
in addition to a lead consultant
is both rare and of significant value to
the client, " Hanna says. " This structure
ensures that the daily needs of the
client may be addressed at any moment,
with an expert advocate and intermediary
working with it continually, with
our relationship managers often having
weekly interaction with clients. "
Automatic features are important
to prepare participants for retirement,
but Everhart Advisors is a firm believer
in one-on-one advice for employees.
" Employees must themselves understand
the behavioral challenges they
face, why behavioral change is vital,
what aspects are within their control,
and then embrace the work necessary, "
Hanna says. The firm also offers
a series of on-site financial wellness
workshops led by the education team,
with topics including budgeting, saving
for emergencies and reducing debt.
" We are all well-aware of the
symptoms [of financial discomfort],
including lower contributions, lower
balances and higher loans, with this
push of financial wellness helping
solve the actual problems in addition
to [the] behavioral challenges, such
as the lack of budgets, extraordinary
spending, consumer debt and school
debt, " Hanna says.
Besides
the
on-site workshops,
employees can also access online
and video-based resources including
SmartDollar and Edu(k)ate. Further,
Everhart provides a dedicated 800
number and email address to all
participants to field their investmentrelated
questions. The firm even
provides personal assistance by way
of executing action steps,
such as
coordinating conference calls with
participants and
the
to implement changes to deferral
recordkeeper
" We are driven
by our desire
for everyone
to achieve the
retirement they
want. We love
what we do, and
we are good at
it. We're not your
typical 401(k)
advisory team. "
amounts or investments.
Everhart Advisors also aims to
combat participant inertia by encouraging
employers to adopt automatic
enrollment starting at 6%, as well as
to always include automatic escalation
up to 10%, or even 15%.
Hanna says all of these initiatives
are indicative of the firm's courage
to embrace emerging developments
in the retirement planning industry.
" There is no best practice we have yet
to implement, " he says. " There are no
initiatives we have not led. There are
no systems or resources we do not
have. There are no fiduciary protection
services or employee engagement
services we do not provide.
" We have emphasized and implemented
automatic enrollment, automatic
escalation, match optimization
and re-enrollment to QDIA strategies
when appropriate, necessary and
consistent with the client culture, " he
continues. " Our fee benchmarking,
vendor search, fiduciary fitness and
investment due diligence services are
all driven by prudent process, robust
tools and industry-leading technology.
Most importantly, we place extraordinary
emphasis on employee education
and engagement, and have done so
since our establishment. " -Corie Hengst
planadviser.com march-april 2018 | 33
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