Mark Beaton

Vice President, Retirement Plan Consulting,
OneDigital

Business at a Glance as of 12/31/24

• Location: Englewood, Colorado
• How many retirement plan assets do you have under advisement? $897.2M
• What is your median plan size (in assets)? $2M
• How many plans do you have under administration? 336
• How many participants in total do you serve? 33,284
• Parent firm: Not applicable

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

Beaton: I am the lead adviser in the Denver marketplace. I am directly supported by two client relationship managers and have one wealth manager in Denver. Additionally, I share a new business development person, CRM, junior CRM, CFA, wealth manager and various other team members with my Kansas office. From a national standpoint, we have a larger portfolio management team, marketing, compliance and other services that are offered to all OneDigital employees.

I co-founded an insurance brokerage company that specialized in brokering and unbundling companies with existing relationships with professional employer organizations. Our goal was to provide tailored solutions that better fit the unique needs of each client. As the only team member with a securities license, I took on the responsibility of managing the 401(k) plans when we unbundled companies from PEOs. This experience opened my eyes to the complexities and importance of qualified plans. Over the years, I have dedicated myself to becoming a specialist in this field, continually expanding my knowledge and expertise to better serve our clients.

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

Beaton: Fee compression has been an issue across the industry, regardless of what service you provide to retirement plans. While some recordkeepers try to expand their suite of products, such as managed accounts, lifetime income solutions or wealth management, our approach has been different. Rather than simply expanding our product offerings, we focus on ensuring that our clients clearly see the value in the services we provide. Our commitment to delivering value includes personalized support, comprehensive education and tailored solutions that meet the unique needs of each client. We believe that by demonstrating the tangible benefits and superior quality of our services, we can justify our fees and maintain strong client relationships.

PLANADVISER: Why do you feel that retirement plan advisers should get involved in the expansion of the DC retirement plan system to cover more employers and, in doing so, more employees?

Beaton: Retirement plan advisers should get involved in expanding the defined contribution retirement plan system to cover more employers and employees for several key reasons.

Many employees, especially those at smaller companies, lack access to retirement plans, and advisers can help bridge this gap by assisting employers in establishing and maintaining these plans, ensuring more employees can save for their future. Navigating retirement plan complexities can be challenging for employers, but advisers provide expert guidance on plan design, compliance and fiduciary responsibilities, making it easier for employers to offer retirement benefits. Advisers also tailor retirement plans to meet the specific needs of employers and employees, ensuring the plans are effective and beneficial, which encourages more employers to adopt plans and more employees to participate. Additionally, advisers play a crucial role in educating employees about the importance of saving for retirement and making informed investment decisions, enhancing financial literacy and encouraging participation.

Advisers can also advocate for policies that support the expansion of retirement plans, providing valuable insights to policymakers. The involvement of advisers is essential for increasing access, providing expert support, offering customized solutions, enhancing financial literacy, improving retirement security and influencing policy.

PLANADVISER: How is your service model different for MEPs/PEPs compared than for single-employer plans?

Beaton: With individual PEP adopter clients, we treat them the same way we treat single-employer plan clients. However, for my large PEP client with about 1,500 adopters, we needed to streamline many of our processes. Education, onboarding and reviews all had to be adjusted to accommodate the high volume of clients being onboarded. Having a standardized plan document, a single payroll provider and one recordkeeper allows my team and I to onboard and enroll clients quickly. For ongoing services, we provide quarterly economic updates, generalized plan reviews and discussions on the benefits of a 401(k), without specifically diving into each adopter’s plan design. We are exploring AI to mimic our education provider’s voice and mannerisms, so it can produce the customized plan design portion of the presentation without him actually needing to record a video for each client. We provide educational resources to each adopter, but not everyone requires or desires quarterly meetings. This flexibility allows us to distribute the workload throughout the year, ensuring that the workload remains manageable, while still making our clients feel supported.

PLANADVISER: What’s your favorite book or podcast?

Beaton: Industry related, I find the Retireholics amusing. I appreciate that they are having fun with a topic that can often be very boring. Non-industry related, I enjoy The Troubleshooter. Tom Martino routinely investigates scams, rip-offs and consumer fraud, while also giving callers great life advice on various topics.