October 12, 2017

2015 RPAY – PearlStreet Investment Management of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Reported by

PA: As a retirement plan adviser, what do you take the most pride in?

PearlStreet Investment Management: We are proud about the level of trust and confidence our plan sponsor clients place in our delivery of recommendations and advice. It is an honor to be entrusted with the investment consulting responsibilities of so many dollars and so many plan participants.

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Our team structure is also a point of pride, as we provide advisory services at the participant level where we put “boots on the ground” for plan sponsor clients looking to offer their employees on-site, in person, one-on-one advice meetings. There is a need and desire from plan participants to interact with an experienced investment professional who can deliver personalized advice in attempts to improve participants’ probability of retiring successfully. 

PA: Describe any particularly noteworthy investment initiatives you have led with your customer base in the past 12 months.

PSIM: Beyond our “core focus” deliverables at each fiduciary review—i.e., investment monitoring—in 2014 we implemented a quarterly calendar of “added focus” items that expanded our scope of consulting in efforts to help our clients address the matter of “plan health” in a more thorough manner.

Noteworthy investment initiatives within this added focus effort include: 1) analysis of investment menu design and recommending a simplification of investment menu offerings where appropriate; 2) creating investment menus that appeal to proponents of both active and passive management; 3) significantly diversifying the fixed-income portion of the plans’ investment menus; 4) analyzing our clients’ capital preservation funds to ensure our clients are comfortable with the terms and conditions of their fund’s contract, portfolio composition and credit ratings, funds’ sensitivity to interest rates, and the influences interest rates may have on the funds’ fair market value; and 5) revisiting clients’ qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) selections, confirming with them their preferences as to the selection and monitoring of either “off-the-shelf” target-date or asset-allocation funds versus “customized” solutions that may be composed of the plan’s core investment menu. 

PA: How is your team/process/structure unique?

PSIM: Twenty-three years ago, we were “pioneers” of the team-based service model. We instinctively knew that in order to properly deliver consistent, high-level and widespread retirement plan services, we needed multiple professionals knowledgeable in multiple areas.

We deliver exceptional service and advice. One aspect of this is reflected in our unique ability to transform the genuine interest we have in our clients’ retirement plan success into an identifiable and measurable plan of action, based on plan-related variables most important to our clients. We do not have an overwhelming number of different clients, so we are able to actually deliver customized solutions to meet the needs and expectations of our plan sponsor clients. An example is our ability to take on the logistical responsibilities of coordinating in-person, one-on-one meetings at multiple facilities with multiple shifts in multiple states. 

Each of our team members working on behalf of plan sponsors and/or plan participants is a licensed investment adviser, with an average tenure of almost 15 years. We have a commitment to each other, and our three primary financial advisers work daily in conjunction with our team’s retirement consultants to actively field all of the moving parts associated with helping maintain our clients’ retirement plans.

PA: What is your mission statement?

PSIM: Our strategic fiduciary management strategies are engineered to enable our plan sponsor clients to provide employees with a sound and robust retirement system, while together we fully embrace our fiduciary roles and responsibilities. The purpose of our service is to equip plan sponsors to achieve fiduciary excellence, and to guide individuals and plan participants toward financial independence that will last a lifetime.

BUSINESS AT A GLANCE

PLAN ASSETS UNDER ADVISEMENT: $3.8 billion

MEDIAN PLAN SIZE (IN ASSETS): $28 million

TOTAL PLANS UNDER ADVISEMENT: 39

TOTAL PARTICIPANTS IN PLANS SERVED: 76,374

October 12, 2017

2015 RPAY – Heffernan Retirement Services

Reported by

PA: How is your team/process/structure unique?

Heffernan Retirement Services: We are unique because each of our clients is unique. We take each plan’s demographics, needs, concerns and learning style into consideration when we design a program. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our clients, and our working environment is filled with diverse, smart, entrepreneurial folks whom we all consider our family. Most employees on our team have been with Heffernan for over 10 years, and our combined knowledge of the financial services industry adds up to over 100 years. Our motto is: “Answer the phone and have fun.” This creates a fun office environment that allows us to service our clients at the highest level. 

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Our process and structure are unique because our focus is increasingly on improving participant outcomes while maintaining a high level of fiduciary support for the plan sponsor. We utilize the “Save More -Tomorrow” program, which is the first comprehensive application of behavioral finance designed to improve retirement outcomes. 

Our focus on the participant has helped us redefine what employee education means. Our goal is now to meet employees via the medium and at the time that is right for them, instead of trying to solve the retirement puzzle for them in one annual meeting. We have created a suite of recorded presentations, both client-specific and general in content, which are available online to allow participants to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule.

PA: Please describe any special education or communication initiatives you’ve undertaken with plan sponsors or participants. 

HRS: We believe that in order to help participants save efficiently, we have to cater to their different stages in life and keep it simple. We use a combination of behavioral finance and technology. At Heffernan Retirement Services, we use LPL Financial’s Worksite Financial Solutions as part of our technology, in conjunction with Shlomo Benartzi’s “Save More Tomorrow” behavioral finance tools.

Worksite Financial Solutions is a beginning-to-end retirement solution that helps create confidence for employees in their whole financial life—retirement, income planning, budgeting and day-to-day money management. It can be applied to each stage of the employees’ careers, whether they are just starting out, hitting their peak earning years or getting close to retirement.

The Financial Finesse leg of Worksite Financial Solutions allows us to assess the employees’ biggest hurdle or concerns of their financial life. The participants take a companywide assessment, and we are provided with metrics to determine what we should focus on. We come back to the plan sponsor and provide our education and communication strategy, whether it is individual consultations, education meetings, webinars, Brainsharks, email communications, flyers, you name it. We use whatever it takes to relate to the demographics of the company and the participant base. 

PA: What are the most important issues your plan sponsors face with their company retirement plan, and what specific actions do you take to assist them in overcoming those issues? 

HRS: Many of our clients have become acutely aware that stressed employees are a financial drain on the company. A stressed employee usually has lower productivity, high health care costs and high absenteeism, all of which can hurt not only a company’s bottom line but the success of the organization as well. 

Similar to how health care companies have been rolling out health and wellness programs, we believe adding a financial wellness program—such as the Financial Finesse program we offer to our clients—can help employees get a better understanding of their financial situation and where they can make improvements. 

A simple five-minute assessment can help them begin thinking about the financial stress in their lives and what we can do to help relieve that stress. The topics cover saving for retirement but also reach more broadly into the employees’ lives, looking at debt management, setting up a rainy-day fund, taking care of loved ones after an accident or death, educational expenses and tax management. 

BUSINESS AT A GLANCE

PLAN ASSETS UNDER ADVISEMENT: $1.65 billion

MEDIAN PLAN SIZE (IN ASSETS): $15 million

TOTAL PLANS UNDER ADVISEMENT: 123

TOTAL PARTICIPANTS IN PLANS SERVED: 31,000

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