PLANADVISER - September/October 2022 - 18

beyond 401(k) / cover story
their future income needs.
More and more, " he continues, " that includes an analysis
of the best time to begin taking Social Security benefits,
educating the person on how and when to apply for
Medicare, and planning and funding ongoing health-care
expenses throughout retirement. We [at Hub] have undertaken
a big-picture focus on delivering a suite of financial
wellness solutions so we can help the employee base go
from surviving to thriving. "
The Role of the Plan Adviser
With the employee market's broadening potential, the
outlook for retirement plan advisers remains bright, says
Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning in
Overland Park, Kansas, though the path ahead for the most
successful firms will not be simple or straightforward.
As Mallouk, Doss, DeNoyior and other sources point out,
the dynamics in the industry seem to be changing again.
Like a pendulum on the return, there is now a clear and
team they're with-or possibly want to
consider something new. "
As sponsors evaluate their relationIt
has become critical that advisers understand
more than retirement
M
any plan sponsors are evaluating
their relationship with
plan advisers as they seek guidance
on managing benefits, according
to retirement industry veterans who
spoke during a PLANADVISER 2022
Practice Progress webinar.
The Great Resignation has complicated
matters, said Jim Scheinberg,
managing partner at North Pier Fiduciary
Management, in Marina del Rey,
California. Client firms are seeing high
turnover and a reduction in staff across
the board. While their human resources
and finance teams each once consisted
of four or five members, now fewer
people may have the same volume of
work spread among them, he said.
" We're also seeing that reflected on
the service provider side, with recordkeepers
or administrators, where their
service teams are being stretched thin, "
Scheinberg said, noting this applies " in
response times, hold times, in getting
resolution to various items that may be
normal in the course of governing your
plan, or maybe one-off items. "
As a result, many with heightened
responsibilities are turning to the plan
adviser for help. In the process, some
are beginning to see a difference in the
quality of the work that results, and it
can become an issue when the adviser
fails to deliver for their client.
Robert Massa, managing director
at Qualified Plan Advisors in Houston,
agreed that advisers are increasingly
being sought for support. The
sponsor may lack in-house expertise
in reviewing plan documents or plan
audits and have been struggling to
locate experienced talent. Advisers
must be able to understand more than
just retirement-in his view, they also
have to grasp where and how retirement
fits into the whole benefits scheme.
Scheinberg noted that, as
sponsors
look to reevaluate their relationship
with their plan adviser, they may
simply be wishing to validate their original
reason for hiring one, or they could
be looking for a change. Mergers and
acquisitions may also prompt reevaluation,
as, due to the recent " tremendous "
amount of consolidation in the adviser
space, sponsors may want to vet the
service structure or culture of the new
organization, he said.
" Where we see most of our search
work is when the committee chair
itself or a very senior staff person has
a very heavy hand on the management
of the plan, " Scheinberg said. " When
that role has changed, the new person
comes in and gets settled for the first
six months or so, and then they want
to start looking around and making
sure that, ultimately,
they like the
ships, they should be prepared to ask
questions that are " culturally uncomfortable "
but that are generally acceptable
in the financial services industry,
said David Morehead, vice president at
OneDigital in San Diego. Questions such
as " How much are you getting paid? " or
" What is your compensation for this
plan? " are straightforward and important
to ask, because fiduciaries should
be aware of an adviser's or service
provider's pricing model, he said.
When vetting to fill an adviser
role, plan sponsors should expect an
adviser to be able to answer their questions
about most general retirement
issues, on the spot, Massa said.
" This is part of the interview process.
Am I dealing with a competent professional,
or am I dealing with someone
who doesn't deal with this every day? "
Massa said. " I'd take time to try to come
up with a few of those questions. Some
may affect your company, some may
not, but it tells you about the person's
knowledge of ERISA [Employee Retirement
Income Security Act], their knowledge
of the IRS tax code and whether
they are a retirement professional or
just an investment professional. "
It is also important for advisers
to explain exactly how, for instance,
they handle managed account investments
or how specifically they plan to
give participants advice, Massa said.
" You want to make sure they're going
to spend time with the employees-
that they're going to actually educate
them and not just hand them off to a
computer program. To me, that's not
advice, " Massa said. " -DJ Shaw
18 | planadviser.com September-October 2022
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PLANADVISER - September/October 2022

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