PLANADVISER: How do you define excellence in retirement plan advising today, and what factors do you use to measure or evaluate your effectiveness with clients?
McCracken Jr.: Excellence in the retirement industry comes down to two core elements: staying ahead of regulatory changes and truly understanding fiduciary responsibility. Many plan sponsors don’t fully grasp their fiduciary duties, so our job is to help them build systematic processes that make compliance natural, not burdensome.
The top-performing advisers don’t just react to regulatory changes; we anticipate them and help clients build adaptable frameworks. It’s about creating sustainable practices that protect participants and plan sponsors, while keeping the focus on secure retirements. Our role is to educate committees on their fiduciary duties and to help them build clearly defined practices and procedures for their plan. We then take these processes and benchmark them with our clients in a documented manner on a consistent basis.
PLANADVISER: What strategic priorities guide your firm, and how have those priorities influenced your approach to business development?
McCracken Jr.: Our growth strategy centers on specialization. A significant portion of our clients are financial institutions, banks, credit unions and similar organizations with sophisticated compliance teams and rigorous vendor selection processes.
We’ve invested heavily in our vendor due diligence program because we understand our clients’ regulatory environment. When you work with financial institutions, they need confidence you can meet their compliance standards from Day 1.
This specialization has created a powerful referral network. When you deliver exceptional service to sophisticated clients, they recommend you to their peers. That trust-based growth has been far more valuable than any traditional marketing.
PLANADVISER: How do you maintain a consistent client experience while managing firm growth or team expansion?
McCracken Jr.: They’re completely interconnected. Early in my career, I thought growth meant saying, ‘Yes’ to every opportunity. That’s a recipe for mediocre service.
Now we’re strategic and selective, focusing on clients to whom we can truly add value. We’ve built systems and processes that allow us to scale without sacrificing quality. When we add a new client, we ensure we have the bandwidth to exceed their expectations.
Truly satisfied clients become your best growth engine through referrals and expanded relationships. Our approach is depth over breadth; exceptional work for the right clients; building long-term relationships; and letting that reputation drive sustainable growth.
PLANADVISER: What industry trends or developments do you believe will most influence retirement plan advising over the next five to 10 years, and how are you/your firm preparing for them?
McCracken Jr.: Technology is transforming our industry, and we’re embracing that change. At Newcleus, staying current with technological advances is a fiduciary responsibility. The tools for participant education, plan administration and investment monitoring improve constantly.
But this remains, fundamentally, a people business. When someone worries about retirement or a plan sponsor faces difficult fiduciary decisions, they want to talk to a trusted person, not a computer.
The successful advisors will seamlessly blend cutting-edge tools with genuine relationships. Technology will change how we work, but the core mission—helping people achieve financial security—is timeless.