PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 34
plan design | selling
Not Just Retirement Services
Many modern advisers have moved into health, wealth and other benefits
W
hen Sean Patton, a partner and senior consultant
at Westminster Consulting in Rochester, New York,
helped found his firm, in 2003, the motivation was
quite clear. " Our vision was based in the fact that too many
people who handled institutional assets, and who were fiduciaries
to their clients, didn't necessarily understand what
their responsibilities entailed, especially with respect to the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act [ERISA], " Patton
says. " We saw a big business opportunity in providing that
fiduciary expertise for plan sponsors. "
Many elements of the business are the same this year as
they were back then. What has changed, however, are some
of the things sponsors require and expect from their consultants.
As Patton and other sources see it, expertise about
fees, funds and fiduciary responsibilities remain important,
but several noteworthy additions appear on the list, principally
an ability to address health care benefits and retirement
plans in a combined, holistic way.
Clients also increasingly look for support in " financial
wellness " -a massive and evolving topic covering everything
from debt management and budgeting to employees'
money-related anxieties and mental health issues.
Patton says the pandemic has forced employers of all
types, here in the U.S. and globally, to think about the
health and immediate financial needs of their people in a
new way. To be engaged and responsive service providers,
advisers must make a similar pivot, he says, and this means
speaking to clients and prospects about bridging the gap
between health, retirement and financial wellness. It means
helping employees create strategies to pay down toxic debt
and embrace the importance of creating emergency savings
funds outside of the retirement plan. If an adviser cannot
do these things effectively, Patton and others agree, he will
have a hard time keeping clients or selling to new ones.
Various Ways to Deliver the 'Package'
Aaron Pottichen, senior vice president at Alliant Retirement
Consulting in Austin, Texas, had been an independent
before being acquired by Alliant in 2018. He says he gains
from the broader company in that it has many corporate
clients that would like to work with an adviser who has a
close association with the health care benefits or insurance
benefits Alliant already delivers to its employees.
" We are now an advisory shop that is closely connected
34 | planadviser.com March-April 2021 Art by Giulio Bonasera
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - March/April 2021
A Season for Change
Through the Ages
Overcoming Obstacles
A Plan Feature Run Wild
Not Just Retirement Services
Take It Past the Limit
Lifetime Income Illustrations
Wanna Be a PPP?
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Cover1
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Cover2
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 1
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 2
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 3
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 4
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 5
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 6
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 7
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 8
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 9
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 10
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 11
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 12
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 13
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 14
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 15
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - A Season for Change
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 17
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 18
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 19
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Through the Ages
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 21
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 22
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 23
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 24
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 25
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Overcoming Obstacles
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 27
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 28
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 29
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - A Plan Feature Run Wild
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 31
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 32
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 33
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Not Just Retirement Services
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 35
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Take It Past the Limit
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 37
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Lifetime Income Illustrations
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Wanna Be a PPP?
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - 40
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Cover3
PLANADVISER - March/April 2021 - Cover4
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