Christopher DeAndrea
Director of Retirement Plan Consulting,
Webber Advisors

FINALIST

Business at a Glance as of 12/31/24

Location: Duncansville, Pennsylvania
How many retirement plan assets do you have under advisement? $354.4M
What is your median plan size (in assets)? $6.8M
How many plans do you have under administration? 52
How many participants in total do you serve? 6,193
Parent firm: Not applicable

PLANADVISER: Tell us about your practice and how you got into advising retirement plans.

DeAndrea: Our retirement plan practice at Webber Advisors consists of four advisers (including myself), two administrative assistants and an in-house third-party administrator. Webber Advisors handles retirement plan advising/consulting, as well as financial planning and wealth management, which is why I believe we’re well positioned for the future within our industry. I believe our practice has a unique service model with a customized, hands-on approach. We are not a one-size-fits-all practice. Our service model is set up to be a true resource for plan participants and to make the lives easier for plan sponsors. Initially, I started on the wealth management side, but my interests turned to the retirement plan side when I identified the need for truly helping people who are trying to save for retirement. I wanted to have an impact earlier in the process, instead of waiting for someone to get close to retirement and attempting to put a plan in place for them. I was able to see that regular people were not saving enough for retirement in their employer-sponsored plans or they didn’t have access to a plan at all. Ultimately, that is why I made the shift to advising on retirement plans, and I hope that I’ve made a positive impact for our plans and plan participants over the years. The role that I’m in now allows me to continue talking about investments and the market (to a lesser extent), but more than anything, it allows me to help people.

PLANADVISER: What challenges do you think the retirement plan industry faces, and what role do you have in addressing and confronting those challenges?

DeAndrea: I think there are two main challenges that the retirement plan industry faces. The first challenge mainly impacts retirement plan practices that also offer financial planning and wealth management services. Retirement plan recordkeeping pricing has come down in recent years, and recordkeepers are looking for new avenues to drive revenue. Some recordkeepers have begun monetizing plan participants and marketing individual services outside of the retirement plan as participants transition into retirement. The challenge will be for retirement plan practices that offer financial wellness, education, financial planning and wealth management to show the value in an all-encompassing, holistic approach to the individual participants. This includes their spouses, partners, families, health care, Medicare, Social Security, tax advisers, estate planning, etc. There will be a place for participants who simply want to continue working with recordkeepers on an individual level outside of the plan, but most people need to have a more in-depth discussion. The second challenge, which will be discussed further, is closing the coverage gap. Obviously, my goal will be to inform as many businesses as possible that do not currently offer a plan. My task is to make them aware of the SECURE Act provisions that may alleviate any concerns they may have had about starting a plan. If I (and the industry) cannot do a better job in this space, the private sector advisers may be competing against a federally run program. That is a huge risk to our practice and the industry.

PLANADVISER: What are the biggest stumbling blocks to adding more tax-advantaged retirement savings opportunities in the workforce? What are you doing to try and overcome them?

DeAndrea: I believe the main stumbling blocks to adding more tax-advantaged retirement plans have been evident for a while, which is why the SECURE Act included several provisions to help address the barriers. Outside of cost, some of the other barriers to offering an employer-sponsored retirement plan are the administration of the plan, potential liability, the time associated with running the plan, compliance testing, audits, etc. As a retirement plan specialist, I simply make these businesses aware that at some point soon, they may be required to offer a plan, and they’ll have to understand retirement plan legislation and industry trends, discuss investments and education, and they may not have a say in who is running the show. When speaking with a potential startup opportunity, I can demonstrate Webber Advisors’ value by being able to essentially remove all the concerns they had about starting a retirement plan. I’ve taken it upon myself to become an expert in the micro-startup plan space, which is why our team is working on a specific solution for these plans with a recordkeeping partner. From our end, we also want to be as efficient as possible in our offering and servicing these plans. I also help a business realize the potential long-term costs to the company if they do not offer a plan and employees cannot retire.

PLANADVISER: What are the biggest challenges to getting small businesses or startups to start a defined contribution plan?

DeAndrea: I don’t want to sound repetitive, but the biggest challenges are getting the small businesses and startups to realize the benefit of having a plan. From an attraction and retention standpoint, businesses should be offering the retirement plan benefit to employees. In addition to that, small businesses and startups are concerned with the costs and time they perceive will be spent on the retirement plan. The word to focus on there is “perceive.” If a business owner is willing to meet with our team, we can offer solutions that minimize the costs and time associated with running the retirement plan. One question that business owners should also ask is, “What is the cost of not offering a plan?”

PLANADVISER: What’s your favorite book or podcast?

DeAndrea: “The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness” by Jeff Olson

Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Investment Advisor Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Webber Advisors and Cambridge are not affiliated.

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