PLANADVISER - Winter 2023 - 33

the time to take advantage of this market opportunity, " said
Aaron Schumm, CEO and founder of Vestwell, in a statement.
Defensive Play
John Faustino, head of retirement products for Broadridge,
in Kalamazoo, Michigan, notes that wealth managers often
work with small-business entrepreneurs who might own " a
couple of muffler shops, or a few Dairy Queens, with 20 or
30 employees. " Often, while those advisers may know Securities
and Exchange Commission
regulations, they may be less aware
of Department of Labor or Employee
Retirement
Income
fied retirement plans.
" There's
a
need
Security Act
rules needed for working with qualifor
wealth
advisers
and wealth-centric firms at
the home-office level to find partners
that find an easy-button solution for
things such as startup 401(k) plans, "
he says. " There are several firms ...
that can take on a lot of the administration
requirements for advisers but
also allow them more flexibility to get
involved if the plan grows. "
These days, Faustino says, some
because marketing directly to small businesses is " expensive "
and unrealistic. By working with financial advisement
firms, Ubiquity can fill the gap by being a customizable,
low-cost option that can handle the fiduciary responsibility
of running a 401(k) plan. Meanwhile, the firm also seeks
to work across benefits providers, large recordkeepers and
payroll providers that also funnel through business.
" Several wealth advisers who at one point did not
state mandates are starting to get
teeth, with the goal of ensuring that
business owners have a workplace
plan. More small-business owners in
places such as California and Illinois,
for instance, are receiving notifications
that they must have a retirement
plan in place or get fined.
The first point of contact such owners may turn to is
What any
smart firm in
the wealth
management
space is doing
is trying to add
that layer of
convenience
[for its] clients.
their financial adviser, Faustino says, and if those advisers
do not have an answer, they may soon be out of a client.
" I believe we'll see a defensive play from wealth advisers,
where they realize they're going to have to get involved with
this plan game to better support their clients, and, if they
don't, people will go after that business, " he says. It is hardly
all about defense, though. Faustino says wealth managers
may parlay that work into advising other senior members of
the business's team, plus be a contact for those companies
to manage participant wealth, should they get bigger.
" Working with these small plans can be like a lottery
ticket, " he says. " There are a good number of these companies
that, in five years or so, may not be around, or get
absorbed into another company. But some of those small
companies grow to be midsize companies ... and being able
to engage a bit more holistically with those that grow is
something [wealth advisers] can think about strategically
in terms of how they address the opportunity. "
The Convergence Writ Small
Parks says having relationships with financial advisers
is some of his firm's strategy for gaining clients, in part
consider themselves a retirement adviser are realizing that
they don't have to be a retirement
plan expert, " Parks says. " They have
the relationship, they know what
the numbers mean, they know what
they need to do, and they need to
work with a firm such as ours or
others out there that are adviserfriendly
to complement them. "
It is not just 401(k) benefit planning
that wealth managers are
starting to partner on or to bring
in-house, says Jamie Hopkins, senior
vice president and director, private
wealth management at Bryn Mawr
Trust in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
In his view, the " fragmented " financial
services industry is starting to
bring together the various elements
of client need, which includes insurance,
investment
management,
tax
services, 401(k) and trust and
estate planning.
" We're going to see a convergence
of those services being pooled
in-house to the wealth management firms, " Hopkins says.
" When you ask a client what services it wants and you run
down that list, then you ask advisers what they deliver, and
they do planning, investment management, and then [their
service offerings] start falling off a cliff. "
The further convergence, he says, comes from two key
areas, with the first being basic client demand.
" This is what people are asking for from a clientele
standpoint, so then the market moves to solve where the
need is, " Hopkins says. " If clients want X, eventually you
will give them X, or they will go to someone else who will
give them X. "
The other element, he says, is the modern-day need for
convenience that flows from development in technology
and everyday consumption and living.
" What tends to win out today more than anything else is
convenience, " he says. " What any smart firm in the wealth
management space is doing is trying to add that layer of
convenience [for its] clients. The fact that you can set up
your 401(k) here with the same adviser, on the same technology
platform, with the same experience that you are
running your money with, your insurance with, your trust
with-that creates a lot of convenience for a client. "
-Alex Ortolani
Art by Miriam Martincic
Plan Management | Winter 2023 | planadviser.com 33
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