Experts ask, what role can or should the retirement plan adviser play in pushing employers to be more paternalistic and generous with employee benefits?
Employees today face inflating health care costs, stubborn
gender pay gaps and rising student loan debt, among many other challenges that
have the power to derail their financial lives.
At the same time, volumes of research show employees who
work for companies with generous retirement, insurance and health care benefits
are much more financially well and focused on long-term wealth building
opportunities. Given this state of affairs, a natural conclusion for plan
adviser professionals aiming to grow their own businesses might be to push
their existing and potential plan sponsor clients to be more generous to
employees.
Josh Ulmer, financial adviser with the Wealth Management
Division of Morgan Stanley, and winner of the 2017 PLANSPONSOR
Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year designation, believes
this sort of paternalism advocacy complements the goals of the
adviser, the participants and plan sponsors. It is not easy to inspire an
employer to be more paternalistic, he warns, but it will pay dividends for
pretty much everyone involved in servicing the retirement plan and other
benefits.
“Participants want and expect broad support from their
employer,” Ulmer notes. “One could also argue that there are substantial
long-term benefits for the employer to be gained by assisting their people in
getting to a secure retirement. This can help achieve lower health care costs,
reduced absenteeism and unclogged career paths.”
Mike Volo, senior partner at Cammack Retirement Group, also
recognized with a 2017 PLANSPONSOR Plan Adviser Mega Team of the Year
designation, agrees. He observes that, when it comes to retirement savings,
participants with more generous benefits report greater trust and general
enthusiasm towards their employer. Frankly, he adds, “employer are fooling
themselves if they believe their employees don’t want them to be more generous
and paternalistic.”
Volo quickly adds that installing “paternalism” in the
retirement plan or another benefits program does not simply mean throwing big
sums of additional benefit dollars around. It can simply be a matter of more
clearly and effectively advertising the benefits that are already in
place—making sure people understand what is available from their employer and
how it can best be taken advantage of.
As Ulmer and Volo both observe, some employers are simply
more libertarian-minded and perhaps never view it as their responsibility to be
paternalistic about health care and retirement benefits. However there are many
employers/employees who could benefit from frank discussions in this
area.
“I have heard plan sponsors suggest that progressive
or paternalistic plan design is too heavy handed and it is not their
responsibility to make sure people utilize company benefits appropriately,”
Ulmer says. “Also, some organizations lack the administrative capabilities to
sufficiently oversee what could amount to increased complexity in their plan,
while others could be dissuaded by industry-specific challenges such as high
employee turnover.”
Ulmer adds that swings in company culture “do not occur
overnight … It’s a process, not an event.”
“The adviser’s role is to consistently bring the right
information and data to the committee regarding best practices, so that they’re
making informed decisions,” Volo concurs. “Once you are trusted and respected
by the committees, they’ll be more comfortable with these potentially tough
conversations around benefits generosity and paternalism.”
Ulmer agrees and emphasizes the critical role advisers can
play in helping employers set more paternalistic goals and aims in the benefits
programming.
“Advisers have a duty to educate and inform clients about
the facts and circumstances around meeting their respective business
objectives, and the financial health of the employee population is a big part
of that,” he concludes. “In the end, an adviser should outline the various
paths by which a plan sponsor can meet their objective and structure a solution
to best meet this objective consistent with the organization’s culture.”
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Cafaro Greenleaf,
a national advisory firm serving corporate and public retirement plans,
welcomes two new consultants. Kevin Mundy,
will serve as education coordinator and
consultant. In addition, Amy
Kinsman, will join the firm as relationship manager and consultant.
Mundy is an Accredited Retirement Plan Counselor (ARPC) and
Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF) with more than 10 years of experience in
the investment advisory and financial services industry. He specializes in 401(k)
plans, profit sharing, defined benefit, DC/DB combination plans and cash
balance retirement plan design for employers. He has lead and conducted
campaigns for direct sales of qualified plan products and services. Previously,
Kevin worked at Merrill Lynch, Ascensus, and UBS, where he served as senior
associate.
Kinsman brings more than five years of experience in the retirement
and financial services industry. She is a Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA),
who has previously worked with Vanguard and Empower Retirement. There, she
gained experience in plan administration, plan design, investments, and participant
education among other topics critical to the management of defined contribution (DC) plans.
“I’m thrilled to have Amy and Kevin join the team,” says CG Managing Principal Wayne Greenleaf. “Their
passion for helping people prepare for retirement for retirement will be a
great asset to Cafaro Greenleaf and all of our clients.”
NEXT: Beltz Ianni &
Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser
Beltz Ianni &
Associates Hires Veteran Financial Adviser
Beltz Ianni &
Associates announced that long-time financial adviser David G. Benedict has joined the firm’s Retirement Plan Consulting group. He brings more than 40 years of experience
in the financial services industry, providing guidance to both individual and
corporate clients.
He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and holds
a number of designations from The American College of Financial Services including
Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter, and Certified
Family Business Specialist, as well as the Accredited Investment Fiduciary from
Fi360.
Bob Judd, Beltz Ianni's managing partner, says "David
loves what he does. With Beltz Ianni, he has the freedom to operate for the
exclusive interest of his clients. We're happy to have David with us as an
invaluable member of the team. We continue to look for
other advisers who want to expand their reach in the retirement plan space. As
fiduciary consultants, we assist employers in complying with ERISA and
Department of Labor regulations, paying only fair market fees and commissions,
and providing education and one-on-one guidance to employees."
NEXT: Guardian Financial
Partners Opens in Orange County
Guardian Financial Partners Opens in Orange
County
The fee-only registered
investment advisory firm Guardian
Financial Partners has opened in Orange County, California. It will be led
by founders Patrick C. Guinet; Hung Nguyen, and Casey Bartels. They previously practiced as Guinet & Nguyen
Wealth Advisory Group, as part of Wells Fargo Advisors.
“We did not come to this
decision lightly or without extensive research,” says Guinet. “The wealth
management industry has changed immensely over the years and it was becoming
ever more difficult for us to serve our clients as true fiduciaries under a
broker/dealer model. We realized that the best way forward was to become an
independent wealth management firm. As Guardian Financial Partners, we are now
able to conduct business in a way that is more authentic and true to our core
values.”
Guinet and Nguyen began
working together in 1999, and were joined by Bartels in 2008. They provide wealth
management services to individuals and families, as well as investment
consulting. In addition, they offer advisory services to institutions,
non-profits and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plans.
NEXT: Transamerica Names
Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans
Transamerica Names
Regional Vice President for Retirement Plans
Transamerica has
appointed Tom Geraghty as regional
vice president for retirement plan sales responsible for the institutional
market. Geraghty brings more than 25 years of retirement industry experience which
has seen him cover corporate, not-for-profit, and nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) retirement plans. He
will offer support to advisers, consultants and their retirement plan clients
in the regions of Virginia, Washington, D.C. and North Carolina.
“We’re honored to add this industry-leading sales
professional to the Transamerica retirement team,” says Michael Wannell, Transamerica divisional vice president for retirement.
We selected Tom because of his breadth of expertise in both defined
contribution and defined benefit plans. He is highly focused on the goal of
helping plans provide more retirement security to employees.”
NEXT: FSR Appoints New Head of Government Affairs
FSR Appoints New Head
of Government Affairs
The Financial
Services Roundtable (FSR) has announced Anthony Cimino as its new head
of Government Affairs.
He will lead FSR's government affairs focusing on tasks such
as FSOC reform, improving retirement security policies and repealing Durbin
Amendment, the firm notes.
Prior to joining FSR, Cimino served as senior professional staff for the
House Financial Services Committee, where he oversaw the subcommittee on
International Monetary Policy and helped develop the congressional response to
the financial crisis. He also worked on the Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).
“Anthony is a tremendous leader with a strong vision to advance the
financial industry’s priorities in Washington,” says FSR CEO Tim Pawlenty. “FSR looks forward to having him at the helm
as we look to modernize the financial regulatory system in a way that helps
grow the economy while better serving and protecting consumers.”
Cimino joined FSR in 2012 and is being promoted from his current position
as senior vice president of Risk Management, which allowed him to oversee FSR’s
advocacy on systemic risk regulation and enterprise risk management, as well as
insurance products and services. Cimino played an instrumental role in the
recent reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and has been a
key player in policy discussions around flood Insurance, patent reform, tax
reform and other issues.
He earned master’s degree of business administration from Johns Hopkins
University.
NEXT: Wilshire Hires VP of Responsible Investing
Wilshire Hires VP of
Responsible Investing
Wilshire Consulting, the
institutional investment advisory and outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) business unit of Wilshire Associates, has hired Daniel Ingram as its vice president of Responsible Investment
Research & Consulting.
He will assist in expanding Wilshire Consulting’s ESG
(environmental, social, and governance) and SRI (socially responsible
investing) capabilities. He will also be responsible for supporting Wilshire
Consulting’s traditional advisory clients in addition to its clients in the
Wilshire OCIO Solutions practice.
Ingram brings to Wilshire more than a decade of global ESG
experience. He previously served as head of Responsible Investment for the UK’s
largest corporate retirement plan, BT Pension Scheme (BTPS). In this role,
Ingram advised BTPS’ Trustee Board on its responsible investment strategy, as
well as integrating ESG factors into manager selection and monitoring.
Prior to BTPS, Ingram worked at Hermes Investment Management
as a senior corporate governance analyst. He also served as a policy analyst to
Her Majesty’s Treasury, working on several reports including the Stern Review
on the Economics of Climate Change as Lord Stern’s Chief of Staff.
“Daniel’s deep understanding of responsible investment best
practices, particularly in Europe, will help our clients navigate this exciting
and often challenging space,” said Andrew Junkin, president of Wilshire Consulting. “We are extremely
fortunate to expand the team with someone who has such an excellent track
record of designing and implementing creative investment-led solutions to managing
ESG risks and opportunities. I look forward to working closely with Daniel in
providing high quality responsible investment research and advice to our
clients.”
Ingram holds a post-graduate certificate in sustainable
leadership from the University of Cambridge, the UK CFA Institute’s Investment Management
Certificate and a master’s degree with honors from Trinity College in Dublin,
Ireland.
NEXT: PGIM Hires Head
of Institutional Defined Contribution Practice
PGIM Hires Head of
Institutional Defined Contribution Practice
Josh Cohen will
join PGIM as head of Institutional Defined Contribution for its Institutional Relationship Group. He
will serve as an adviser to PGIM’s large defined contribution (DC) clients
providing counsel and thought leadership on investment issues ranging from plan
design and qualified default investment alternatives (QDIA) to implications of
regulatory change and implementation. He will work closely with investment
professionals in PGIM Fixed Income, Jennison Associates, QMA and PGIM Real
Estate to tailor investment solutions that meet the needs of plan participants.
Cohen was most recently the head of Defined Contribution for
Russell Investments. Previously, he led the DC investment consulting practice
team at Hewitt Associates. He also has served a three-year term as a member of
the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, and is actively involved with
the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA) and the
Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Furthermore, he is a member of the
CFA Institute and the Investment Analyst Society of Chicago. He earned his
bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan, and a master’s
degree in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago.
“As an established counselor and expert in the field, Josh
will partner with large plan sponsors and institutional consultants on how to evolve
and enhance their DC programs to continue to meet their participants’ needs,”
says Bas NieuweWeme, global head of PGIM’s Institutional
Relationship Group.
“We are committed to serving DC plan sponsors through the strength of our
managers’ investment capabilities and the depth of our insights about the
industry.”
PGIM is the
global investment management businesses of Prudential
Financial.
NEXT: CFI Names Head
of Relationship Management
CFI Names Head of
Relationship Management
CeteraFinancial
Institutions (CFI), a network of independent firms supporting the delivery
of professional financial advice through advisers and financial institutions, announced
that industry veteran Britt Woods has
joined CFI as vice president, head of Relationship Management.
He will be tasked with overseeing adviser recruiting and
business consulting activities for CFI. He will also work with the bank and
credit union wealth management programs, as well as the financial advisers they
support. Woods will work in conjunction with Executive Vice President and
National Director of Business Development Sean Casey, who oversees CFI’s
institutional recruiting efforts.
Woods most recently served as vice president and sales
manager of Fifth Third Bank, where he oversaw financial advisers, licensed
bankers and sales assistants across three different affiliates. He was awarded
Retail Partner of the Year during every year of his service, in recognition of
his effectiveness in supporting the client service success of the professionals
reporting to him. Prior to that, he served at NatCity Investments as vice
president, where he was named top financial adviser for seven consecutive years.
“We enthusiastically welcome Britt Woods to Cetera Financial
Institutions,” says LeAnn Rummel, president of Cetera Financial Institutions. “Britt brings a well-established
track record of building exceptional advisor business coaching and advisor
recruiting programs in the financial institutions channel, and he shares our
vision of creating a truly advice-centric experience for financial advisers and
their clients. Britt's expertise will enhance our ability to provide bank and
credit union-based financial advisers with highly customized support, thus
enabling them to better serve their clients, while also creating new
opportunities to align the institutions we serve with experienced financial
advisers seeking to grow as part of a financial institution. We're looking
forward to everything we can accomplish together with Britt as part of our
team."