PLANADVISER: Tell us about your role at your firm and how you contribute to its growth and progress.
Ilcin: As a client executive, I am the day-to-day contact for plan sponsors utilizing our firm’s advisory services. Some days consist of running investment committee meetings; others will be helping clients address plan operational failures. No two days are the same, which is something I deeply appreciate in my role.
Growth has many factors, but two key ones are: winning new business and making sure you keep what you have already won. Being the day-to-day contact for our clients means I play a key role in the latter. Being able to provide proactive, timely and high-quality service to each of our clients plays a huge part in retention of business.
Plan committees are typically made up of a company’s key decisionmakers. This puts me in a unique position to find creative solutions to issues the business may be running in. These may be additional plans, such as a nonqualified plan or cash balance plan. The ability to find areas where we can help results in new business growth, as well as a satisfied client.
PLANADVISER: What motivates you to stay in the retirement/advisory industry?
Ilcin: I began my career taking inbound calls for a plan recordkeeper. I was surprised how I could see such a wide range of retirement readiness. You may have a call with someone getting ready to retire early, followed by a call with someone who is realizing they will need to work until age 70.
I then had a chance to work for another advisory firm, where I provided on-site education to employees. Here I got to work directly with individuals to help them budget, invest properly and make sure they reached their retirement goals. Everyone works hard, and everyone deserves to have the retirement they want. The ability to put a plan in place for someone to realize that was what motivated me every day.
In my current role, I now get to work with the plan sponsor to optimize their plan to help their employees reach their goals. Whether it’s improvements to a fund lineup or making plan design changes—the impact goes beyond the individual. Every day I wake up excited to work, because I now get to help employers set up their plan so all their employees have the best chance of a successful retirement.
PLANADVISER: What’s your favorite book or podcast?
Ilcin: My favorite podcast is called, “If Books Could Kill.” Within this podcast, the hosts review best-selling “airport books.” These are the best-selling nonfiction/self-help/pop-economics/pop-sociology titles of the past few decades. As part of the review, the hosts will critically analyze the data and central thesis of the book. Often they will point out that the main topic is based on flawed research or pushes an individual solution to systemic issues.
While the hosts focus on best-selling books, I have come to realize that there is the need to use the same analysis in my personal life and career. The key to fixing a problem is knowing what its root cause is. Are plan distributions up because a few people are taking repeated hardship withdrawals? If so, this is an individual problem, and meeting with a financial adviser to work through a budget may be the best solution. On the other hand, if a majority of employees are not deferring, it may be time to look at systemic fixes like automatic enrollment.
Investment advisory services offered through Global Retirement Partners, DBA Oswald Financial, an SEC registered investment advisor.