PLANADVISER - March/April 2019 - 26

PLANSPONSOR
Retirement
Plan Adviser
Small Team
of the Year
Atlanta Retirement Partners
A
don't
tlanta Retirement Partners
(ARP), founded in 2013 in Georgia's
capital, strives to be the
go-to firm for clients who value participant
education. In fact, most of ARP's
new business has come from requests
for proposals (RFPs) it has won specifically
because the prospect was looking
for a firm that prioritizes education.
" While some of our competitors
believe education works, we
think otherwise, " says David Griffin,
ARP founder and director of institutional
retirement plans.
ARP's mission statement comes as
no surprise, then: " Your participants
have questions. We have answers. "
Over the past year, ARP has
augmented its educational offerings
with a financial wellness program for
participants that covers topics such as
Social Security, Medicare, debt management,
home buying, credit, student
loan management and life coaching.
The firm works with each client's
human resources (HR) department
to customize the program based on
that particular workforce's needs. The
program is increasingly popular with
both ARP's public and private clients
and has been key in setting the firm
apart from its competitors, Griffin says.
" We feel the reason for [the
program's popularity] is the competitive
job environment but, more importantly,
the desire for employers to truly
add value outside of compensation to
encourage long-term career thinking, "
he says.
ARP conducts participant surveys
before and after the program to
measure results. In this way, it has
confirmed that the program reduces
workers' financial stress, helps them
ARP takes a hands-on approach to
educating participants, a method that
Griffin says leads to increased plan
participation. Not only does this lend
itself to an improved chance of retirement
success for employees, but it also
assists the employer in passing necessary
compliance testing for qualified
" We think it is critical to make sure
everyone has access to a workplace
saving vehicle, and we want to make
sure it is set up correctly. "
develop a better understanding of
financial topics and increases their
retirement plan deferrals.
Griffin says, in a world where the
education system unfortunately fails
to teach so many people about personal
finance, he takes pride in seeing the
look on young employees' faces when
they realize how powerful it can be to
start saving early for retirement.
" I feel we have excelled at effective
communication, which is paramount
to our success, " says Griffin, who is
currently writing a book designed to
help employees who are new to the
working world and lack access to a
financial planner.
plans. Through the firm's services,
participants can listen to webinars,
attend group or individual meetings,
or even have phone calls with ARP
advisers after-hours.
ARP has secured more than 100
clients and nearly $1 billion in assets
in its six years in business-the
majority of plans being 401(k)s, along
with several in the 403(b), 457 and
defined benefit (DB) markets-and the
company is not afraid to step away
from a client or prospect it decides is
not a good fit. Between September 1,
2017, and last August 31, ARP added
15 new plans and lost five, the losses
being either clients the firm let go or
26 | planadviser.com March-April 2019
Photography by James Rajotte
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PLANADVISER - March/April 2019

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