PLANADVISER - September/October 2017 - 4

intro
Off on the Right Foot
A
s any retirement plan adviser knows,
bringing a new client into an ongoing
service model takes work. Our cover story
for this issue, " Onboarding New Clients " (page
30), lays out the various tasks plan advisers
confront when initiating work with a new plan
sponsor client. Certainly, one of the most important
is to obtain as much information from it
as possible. Advisers also need to ensure they
are equipped to work with various providers to
gather detailed data on the plan's participants-
which may be easier said than done if the data
contains errors.
As important as attracting new clients is to
Winning Strategies for Retirement Plan Advisers
2017
Retirement
Plan Adviser
Survey
2017
Target-Date
Fund Buyer's
Guide
September-October 2017 | planadviser.com | $30
ONBOARDING
How to make the
transition seamless
CLIENTSNew
retain the ones you have. " Keeping Them Happy " (page 66) looks at strategies
for strengthening your client relationships-particularly helping your clients
set realistic goals and achieve them, then sharing those successes in presentations
to your prospects. It is also important to make personal contact with
your clients at least every 90 days-you can use your customer relationship
management (CRM) tool to set reminders.
" Reharvesting " (page 58) delves into the topic of re-enrollment and the
three ways plans use this automatic feature: to sweep in nonparticipating
employees, to re-allocate balances into the plan's qualified default investment
alternative (QDIA), and to increase deferrals up to the default deferral rate.
While the 2016 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution (DC) Survey found that
only 8.6%, 1.9% and 4% of sponsors, respectively, had conducted those three
types of re-enrollment, some in the industry expect that as automatic enrollment
takes hold, re-enrollment may be close behind, enabling sponsors to not
just help new hires but their entire work force.
Our 2017 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey, " Many Facets
of Value " (page 36), examines the factors that plan advisers consider when
selecting investment managers and recordkeepers.
With 77 million Baby Boomers now starting to retire, plan sponsors are
considering in-plan, or even out-of-plan, annuities. " Annuities in DC Plans "
(page 62) explores the pathway the Department of Labor (DOL) has carved out
to enable sponsors to offer annuities in retirement plans. There, you'll also find
the options your peers recommend, including immediate fixed-income annuities,
qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs) and guaranteed lifetime
minimum benefits (GLMBs), as well as out-of-plan annuities, which, due to
portability issues, some experts believe are a wiser choice.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the debt participants carry, often
for higher education, keeps them from saving for retirement. " Laden With
Student Debt " (page 68) reveals that many financial wellness programs now
pinpoint this problem, and providers are creating tools to help participants
unload the burden.
We also are debuting a new department in this issue, " Plan Focus " (page
14), which will highlight Strategic Insight research on retirement plans
performed by our sister company BrightScope. The initial column focuses on
employer contributions.
We hope you find eye-opening suggestions in these stories to bolster your
business, and we welcome your feedback. -Lee Barney, Managing Editor
editor-in-chief: Alison Cooke Mintzer
Alison.Mintzer@strategic-i.com
creative director: SooJin Chun Buzelli, svp
SooJin.Buzelli@strategic-i.com
managing editor: Lee Barney
Lee.Barney@strategic-i.com
deputy editor, planadviser.com: John Manganaro
John.Manganaro@strategic-i.com
editorial staff: Judy Faust Hartnett, Rebecca Moore,
Javier Simon, Amanda Umpierrez, Karen Wittwer
contributor: Judy Ward
surveys & research: Quinn Keeler, svp;
Brian O'Keefe, Jackie Scott
design & production: Lynn Connelly, Chris Kwon,
Claire Merchlinsky, Tiffany Pai
design contributor: Cherese Rambaldi
art contributors: Tim Bower, Chris Buzelli (cover),
Martin Gee, David Huang, Yinfan Huang, Wenting Li,
Claire Merchlinsky, Alex Eben Meyer, Tiffany Pai,
Red Nose Studio, Tomi Um, JooHee Yoon
online & digital products: Paul Zampitella, vp
Paul.Zampitella@strategic-i.com
advertising sales: Katie Bacon, Meighan McGowan,
Bill Murray, Lisa Reilly
global sales administrator: Anthony Groccia
conferences: Michael Garity, vp; Carol Popkins, vp;
Katie Campbell, Ana-Alyse Castelluccio,
Melissa Groccia, Lucille Velander
global controller: Younes Ismael-Aguirre
accounting operations: Abeer Abu-Issa, Mayrillane
Bahi, Ruth Fissaha, Doreen Fucci, Kristin Keeler,
Ricky Kostik, Karen Kurtz, Vivian Panton
chief technology officer: Phil Herzog
development director: Justin Hoffman
technology operations: Ray Lucibello, Bhakti Patel,
Jigar Patel, Dexter Reaves, Stephen Widom
custom media program manager: Drew Donaldson,
Drew.Donaldson@strategic-i.com
reprints: Michelle Judkins 203-595-3276
Michelle.Judkins@strategic-i.com
PLANADVISER is a Strategic Insight business.
chief executive officer: Joel Mandelbaum
chief financial officer: Karl Jaeger
chief content officer: Tony White
PLANADVISER (ISSN 1935-9098) is published
bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug,
Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec) by Strategic Insight, Inc.
(1055 Washington Blvd., Stamford, CT 06901-2218).
Standard rate postage paid at Stamford, CT, and
at additional mailing rate.
postmaster Send address changes to: PLANADVISER,
P.O. Box 88, Congers, NY 10920-9916
reproduction policy PLANADVISER, Volume 12, Issue
1. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form without the publisher's
permission. Authorization to photocopy items for
internal or personal use, or the internal or personal
use of specific clients, is granted by Strategic Insight,
provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to
Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr.,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Tel: 978-750-8400.
Copyright. com ©2017. Entire contents copyrighted.
4 | planadviser.com september-october 2017
http://www.PLANADVISER.COM http://www.planadviser.com http://www.Copyright.com http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - September/October 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - September/October 2017
