PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 36
outreach
How to Show Your Worth
Best practices for navigating today's 'out of control' RFP process
R
etirement plan sponsors now send out more requests
for proposals (RFPs) to advisers than ever before-and
some advisers have become disenchanted with the
process. It rarely leads to new business, they say. Still, other
advisers maintain they have found ways to navigate the RFP
process, ensuring they are more likely to make the final cut
in an adviser search.
" The trend is definitely more plan sponsors requesting an
RFP as opposed to bringing in two to three groups for review
or hiring you straight up, " says Brian Hanna, executive vice
president and a partner with Everhart Advisors in Dublin,
Ohio. " Plan sponsors have been well-educated regarding
how, as fiduciaries to the plan, they should be conducting
a prudent process to hire service providers, as prescribed
by ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act]. They
have become more sensitive to the increased changes in
regulations, such as participant fee disclosures. "
Besides this, Hanna continues, " there are more retirement
plan players soliciting their business to conduct the
RFP for them, including retirement plan consultants, thirdparty
administrators [TPAs], accountants and ERISA attorneys.
Some companies' only service is conducting RFPs,
and software companies have built technology platforms
for the process. "
Josh Itzoe, partner and chief strategy officer at
Greenspring Advisors in Towson, Maryland, says he, too, is
seeing more RFPs from sponsors than at any point in his
career, even from those with plan assets under $30 million.
" We just bid on a $5 million plan that had a very good
RFP process-even better than a $20 million RFP we just
responded to, " Itzoe says, noting that a TPA conducted the
RFP for the smaller plan.
According to Hanna, the volume of RFPs they receive
outweighs their value, particularly if they fail to result in
new business. " RFPs are out of control, " he says. " Nine out
of 10 are not actually an opportunity for new business but
a documentation process. The better option for most plans
would be to issue a request for information [RFI], which is
36 | planadviser.com September-October 2020
Art by Antonio Uve
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - September/October 2020
A Careful Inspection
2020 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey
Keeping Clients Safe
Cures for Virtual Meeting Fatigue
Inflation Protection For DC Investors
How to Show Your Worth
Never Too Late
A Return to Rollover Advice
Whether—And How—To Vote Proxies
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Cover1
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Cover2
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 1
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 2
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 3
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 4
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 5
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 6
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 7
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 8
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 9
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 10
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 11
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - A Careful Inspection
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 13
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 14
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 15
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 2020 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser Survey
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 17
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 18
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 19
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 20
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 21
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 22
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 23
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 24
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 25
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Keeping Clients Safe
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 27
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 28
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 29
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Cures for Virtual Meeting Fatigue
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 31
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 32
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 33
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Inflation Protection For DC Investors
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 35
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - How to Show Your Worth
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 37
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Never Too Late
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 39
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 40
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 41
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - A Return to Rollover Advice
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Whether—And How—To Vote Proxies
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - 44
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Cover3
PLANADVISER - September/October 2020 - Cover4
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