Kelli Davis

Executive Vice President, HUB International

Business at a Glance

PLANADVISER: What outcomes matter most to your clients—and how do you measure whether you’re delivering them? (e.g., participation, deferral behavior, retirement readiness, fiduciary confidence)

Davis: I think retirement readiness and confidence matter most. Ultimately, employers want to know their retirement plan is effective. When we work with participants, our main goal is to break retirement income down into manageable information so the participants have a clear road map of what they need to do and understand how the contributions they are making turns into income. We track these metrics in our participant interactions and report back to our clients annually so they can see improvement (or decline) year-over-year. If our participants are not financially ready to retire or lack the confidence to do so, we are not doing our job.

PLANADVISER: What differentiates your team in a crowded advisory marketplace today? Please expand on what you do differently in practice, not philosophy.

Davis: Our team stands apart due to our service model. Our team is comprised of our consultants, our education team and our third-party administrator team. When we are working with clients, we are able to holistically meet their needs and not have to bring in separate parties. Even for our clients who are bundled with our recordkeeping partners, we are still able to provide support to their administrative questions when they arise.

Our education team is constantly on site with our clients and providing advice to our plan participants. We find this to be very meaningful work, as we are able to closely monitor participant progress and determine the most effective ways to communicate with our employee groups.

PLANADVISER: What is the most complex or persistent challenge your 403(b) clients face today? How have you helped address it?

Davis: The most persistent challenge for 403(b) clients is helping them do more with less. It is a delicate balance of providing robust retirement benefits versus compensation. Since many 403(b) organizations typically pay less than private sector jobs, some organizations have decided to increase retirement benefits as an offset to lower compensation. My role as their consultant is to help them determine what their organizational goals are and how best to structure their dollars. In the past, we have used compensation studies to use marketplace data to determine the best structure. We have run employer contribution analysis to consider the potential impact on retirement savings. We continue to find this is the most challenging issue for 403(b) plans.

PLANADVISER: How did you build expertise in the 403(b) market, and what advice would you give advisers considering this specialization?

Davis: My expertise started when I sat with my mother when I started my career. She was a public school teacher and had no idea how her retirement benefits worked. I dove in and started learning everything I could about 403(b) plans and how they work. Then I started working with her friends and gained more knowledge. Then I met my husband, who is also a public school teacher, so I have always been involved with educators and their retirement.

If advisers wanted to enter this market, having a passion for nonprofits is important. It is a different thought process than a for-profit organizations. Plan document provisions vary in 403(b) plans, so spending time with a third-party administrator and getting up to speed on the document requirements can be extremely beneficial. I would also spend time with recordkeeping partners who specialize in 403(b) and nonprofit clients. Many large recordkeepers segment this division out, and I’ve found those partners to be very valuable in providing knowledge and training.