PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 27

The Future of Retirement
Advising
Even though the Department of Labor
(DOL)'s fiduciary rule was vacated by
the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, it has
prompted consolidation of practices,
said advisers on the panel " The Future
of Retirement Advising. "
" We grew 66% last year and expect
growth of 80% this year, " said Vincent
Morris, president of Resources Investment
Advisors. " That was driven by
consolidation and advisers needing
help on the rule. We are an aggregator.
Companies can remain independent
and have access to scale, innovation
and financial wellness programs. They
are under margin pressure and more
demand from sponsors for services, so
I think we'll continue to see that scale. "
Edward O'Connor,
a managing
director with Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management, agreed. " We definitely
see consolidation, " he said. " It's harder
for generalists to seek out opportunities
because there is a higher standard
of care for the 401(k) business. "
As for working with recordkeepers,
Jon Anderson, head of retirement plan
solutions at Cetera Financial Group, said
advisers will become more selective
about the companies they work with.
" Advisers need to align with organizations
that will support them. Advisers
can't do it on their own, " he observed.
Resources Investment Advisors
works " with 56 recordkeepers, which
is unsustainable, " Morris said. " We
Audience Poll
Do you have clients or prospects that have
inquired about possibly using environmental,
social and governance factors in their
defined contribution plan?
n Yes
n No
42.9%
57.1%
want to bring that down to 12 in
order to have pricing and resource
leverage. " The firm would also prefer
to work with recordkeepers that offer
" more of a partnership, " he said-
" managed accounts, financial advice,
an economics play. We will be interested
to see how this pans out in the
next five to 10 years. "
Currently, Morgan Stanley Wealth
Management
" scrutinizes
recordkeepers,
performing due diligence on
how they engage with participants, "
O'Connor said. The firm also prefers
to work with recordkeepers that can
" train our advisers to be specialists, "
he added.
The Value of an Adviser-
Plan Sponsors Tell All
" The conversations we have with our
retirement plan adviser are always
about getting the plan to a better
place, " said Joanna Farrere, senior vice
president, human resources (HR) and
administrative services at the Illinois
Health and Hospital Association.
Farrere, speaking on the panel " The
Value of an Adviser-Plan Sponsors Tell
All, " was representing Illinois Health
and Hospital, which was selected as
the 2018 Plan Sponsor of the Year in
the nonprofit defined contribution (DC)
category for plans with under $100
million in assets.
Heather Masterson, human
resources director at Hendrick Motorsports,
another 2018 Plan Sponsor of
the Year, in the corporate $50 million
to $100 million category, said, since
the award, she has been bombarded
with solicitation calls from recordkeepers
and advisers. " There's a
tremendous amount of interest in
doing business with us, " she said. " We
are constantly receiving requests to
connect on LinkedIn. It can be overwhelming
at times. "
Asked whether she would consider
those solicitations, Masterson said, " It's
all about the personality. If they make
a concerted effort to know the plan or
to tell me they can offer a second set of
eyes to examine it, " she will consider
hearing them out. " It's all about building
a relationship with us. "
Farrere agreed: " Do they know
who they are calling, and have they
reviewed all of the publicly available
information? Are they offering to
provide me valuable information, such
as a white paper they have produced,
or to tell me about a new regulation
that was passed? "
As to what Farrere expects from
her retirement plan adviser, it is to be
" a trusted source, really pushing me
forward to think about new strategies
and to keep our team-the recordkeeper,
the committee and the auditor
on the plan-together. We have weekly
conversations with them about what
we should be doing. "
Winning the 2018 Plan Sponsor of
the Year award has inspired Hendrick
Motorsports " to look at a broader time
horizon to get things done, " Masterson
said. " We now have a three-year plan,
and the adviser helps us prioritize all
of the things on our mind. "
Understanding
The Participant Mind
Obtaining reliable data about participants
is important to figuring out their
needs, said Shannon McCarthy, senior
consultant, brand leader, at Nationwide,
speaking on the " Understanding
the Participant Mind " panel.
" You can extrapolate data from a
retirement readiness tool and pair it
with third-party data, " she suggested.
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PLANADVISER - November/December 2018

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