Thomas P. Simonson

Partner, Managing Director, Creative Planning Retirement Services

Business at a Glance

PLANADVISER: How has your retirement plan practice evolved over the past three to five years? What strategic decisions most changed your growth trajectory or client impact?

Simonson: Our practice has evolved in two significant areas: participant services and pooled employer plans. Our decision to lean into these emerging areas early enabled us to learn lessons early and apply those to a point where both are very effective offerings for our clients today.

Innovation is embraced at Creative Planning, and our clients and their plan participants ultimately benefit. Participants need a trusted adviser to help them make smart decisions regarding their retirement plan and overall financial picture. Many employers are seeking ways to simplify their retirement plan responsibilities and reduce their fiduciary risk. PEPs can be an effective way to accomplish these goals.

PLANADVISER: What’s one lesson you’ve learned the hard way as a retirement plan adviser—and how has it changed your approach?

Simonson: There is not a one-size-fits-all solution for retirement plan sponsors. While there are strategies that have demonstrated effectiveness in many situations, it doesn’t mean they are right for all. Automatic features are a great example. We know that in most instances, they will create better participant outcomes than a plan without them. However, if they create administrative pressure to the point that mistakes are consistently being made in their implementation, the employer cost can outweigh their benefits. I take the time to understand the plan sponsor’s business needs, internal support structure and what role they need their retirement plan to play for their employees before launching into ideas or problem solving.

PLANADVISER: Describe your core plan sponsor client and service model. What problems do sponsors typically hire you to solve?

Simonson: We serve clients in key areas including plan governance, strategy development, plan design, fiduciary investment advice, employee engagement and service provider management. Our clients are typically trying to solve for ways to effectively integrate acquired plans and employees; reducing their fiduciary and compliance risk; improving their employees’ engagement with their plan and financial wellness resources; optimizing their investment menu and fees; and creating a true partnership with their recordkeeping and administrative services providers.

PLANADVISER: What are the three most pressing retirement plan challenges your sponsors face today? How have you helped sponsors address them in measurable ways?

Simonson: Mitigating fiduciary liability, creating financially confident employees and navigating ever-increasing regulation and legislation are the biggest issues facing our clients today. Our industry’s regulatory and compliance requirements are daunting and make it easy for plan sponsors to make honest, but costly, mistakes. We provide them with an opportunity to transfer some of that liability through our ERISA 3(21) and 3(38) services or to mitigate virtually all of it through our pooled employer plan partnerships and a structured approach to address their key fiduciary obligations annually, including fee benchmarking, fiduciary training, and investment and compliance reviews.

It’s clear that participants want advice on their best next step to improve their financial future, and providing education and information isn’t enough. My role as an adviser is to help plan sponsors realize the benefits of a healthier, happier and more productive workforce by adopting a personalized approach to better outcomes and improving their financial confidence. Delivering to plan sponsors a customized financial wellness strategy that includes multiple points of employee engagement and actionable advice are critical components to drive this improvement.

Lastly, our industry is constantly changing due to new legislation and regulatory requirements. The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 continues to prove to be an enormous challenge. While many of the provisions are optional and create opportunities to improve outcomes, there are several requirements that will stress plan sponsors’ administrative systems, recordkeeper capabilities and potentially cause errors resulting in costly corrections. We provide our clients with clear and concise, action-focused guidance so they can respond to regulatory and legislative requirements and take advantage of their opportunities.