PLANADVISER - November/December 2020 - 12

trends
Pandemic Accelerates
Practice-Growth Trends
Plans are being won from other advisers
THROUGH March and April, many retirement plan advisory firms said they were able to
meet their existing client service demands while also maintaining fairly robust growth,
thanks in large part to the fact that sales cycles in the industry are so long-many
advisers had new relationships already in development when the pandemic struck.
As the months have dragged on, however, and social distancing requirements have
remained in place, new plan sales have shown some signs of drying up. According to
Deb Dupont, institutional retirement research director at the LIMRA Secure Retirement
Institute (SRI), this trend has accelerated as the year has progressed, but it is in fact not
a new phenomenon.
LIMRA SRI's data show that, in the last three years, only 51% of " core " plan advisers,
40% of " medium " advisers, and 30% of " occasional " advisers have sold at least one brandnew
plan. Core advisers are those making the majority of their income advising defined
contribution (DC) plans, while medium advisers earn between 20% and 49% from DC
plans, and occasional advisers earn less than 20%.
" It's interesting to observe how, during the pandemic, the sale of takeover plans has
not dropped as dramatically, " Dupont says. " For startup plans, though, we have definitely
seen a drop-off in the third-quarter time frame. "
Despite the challenges, many advisers are still having success creating new plans
and winning established ones. David Hinderstein, president at Strategic Retirement
Group, part of OneDigital, says his firm has been able to stay on track this year in terms
of its growth targets-but this has taken a lot of work and flexibility.
In speaking to colleagues, Hinderstein says, he has found a renewed focus on using
referrals and centers of influence as a way to contact and get to know potential new clients.
" Telling the story of things we are doing [for] our attorney partners or our auditor
partners is more important than ever, because they will often carry this story to their
other clients who may need our services, " he says.
" It has become increasingly important for advisers to think about ways to build trust
with new clients in a socially distanced world, " Dupont says. My conversations with both
advisers and the plan sponsors they serve have revealed an impressive amount of innovation
in the areas of outreach technology and communication tools. " -John Manganaro
Workers With a 'Planning Mindset' Are ...
2x 2.5x 5x
more satisfied
with their overall
financial life
more apt to have a strong
sense of personal control
over their debt
more apt to have
a long-term plan with
overarching goals
In its 2020 Retirement Study, Wells Fargo, working with Harris Polls, found that among 4,950
Americans polled in August, those with a " planning mindset " seemed to be weathering the
pandemic better than those without one. This was true for people whose employment was
affected as well as those for whom it was not. Wells Fargo calls participants with a planning
mindset those who set goals and plan for their near- and long-term financial needs.
12 | planadviser.com November-December 2020
ON THE MOVE
➜ Securities and
Exchange Commission
(SEC) Chairman Jay
Clayton will depart from
the market regulator
at year's end. During
Clayton's tenure, the SEC
obtained orders for over
$14 billion in monetary
remedies.
➜ Janus Henderson
Investors appointed Paul
LaCoursiere, Chartered
Financial Analyst,
as global head of
environmental, social and
governance investments.
➜ SageView Advisory
Group made two
appointments to its
Northern California team:
Luciano Costantini as
managing director and
Scott Ondek as retirement
plan consultant.
➜ OneDigital acquired
the employee benefits
division of Berkshire
Insurance Group Inc.
The addition increases
OneDigital's benefits
operations and expands
its overall company
growth.
➜ DWS has selected
Matt Hilding as U.S.
head of wealth. Hilding
will lead a regional team
of sales executives to
deliver the DWS platform
to the wealth market in
the Americas.
➜

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PLANADVISER - November/December 2020

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