Client Service October 1, 2020

15th Anniversary of RPAY: Jeb Graham

One sign of the changing times since Jeb Graham was named Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year in 2013 is that plan sponsors are much more interested in the financial and physical well-being of their employees.
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Jeb Graham

Jeb Graham, a principal and financial adviser with CAPTRUST in Tampa, Florida, says becoming the 2013 PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year gave him “a lot of great exposure in the industry” and has helped his practice continue to grow in the years since winning.

In 2013, he had $1.5 billion in assets under advisement and, today, that figure is $2 billion. At that time, Graham was running an independent firm called “CapTrust Advisors,” which was in fact distinct from the national CAPTRUST advisory firm that is so well known in this space. In 2017, Graham’s CapTrust merged into the CAPTRUST advisory network. 

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Along with the whole retirement plan adviser industry, Graham’s service model has changed quite a bit since 2013.

“Plan sponsors are more interested in the well-being of their employees than 10 years ago,” he says. “You have seen a shift in participant education to move to overall financial wellness, and CAPTRUST has a wellness and advice deliverable that is pretty unique in the industry.”

Because CAPTRUST enjoys a good reputation in the industry, Graham says, the firm’s service provider partners “are pretty excited to collaborate with us and see that as a bonus to them in terms of improving participant outcomes. Although some see our financial wellness services as infringing on their turf, most view us as good partners.”

Graham says one rewarding aspect of the CAPTRUST merger is that he is now colleagues with some of the best advisers he formerly competed with. He says it has been gratifying to work alongside Mark Davis, Steve Wilt and Dan Esch, and he expects more of his former top competitors to join CAPTRUST in the future. For context, the national advisory practice has been on an aggressive acquisition spree in recent years, with no sign of a slowdown.

Asked how the industry has changed in the years since he won the award, Graham says litigation has made plan sponsors more focused on risk management.

“Part of that focus is related to employees and what sponsors’ responsibilities are to help them plan for their financial futures,” Graham says. “That is why some of the focus on financial wellness is related to risk management, and we are seeing a higher level of risk now than we saw 10 years ago.”

Graham adds that he is very optimistic about the future of the industry, particularly in his role as a CAPTRUST shareholder, adding that the need for advice has never been greater.

“With fiduciary committees facing serious litigation risk, we play an important role,” he says.

Under the leadership of Fielding Miller, co-founder and chief executive officer, Graham says, CAPTRUST is “unapologetically a growth firm.”

“There are many opportunities for us to grow, both organically and through acquisitions—and that fuels a level of optimism that may not be universal in the plan adviser industry today,” Graham says.

Graham says the coronavirus pandemic has certainly had an influence on his business and clients.

“It is always important to listen to your clients, but now it is especially important to listen carefully,” he suggests. “Committees really need leadership in times of crises. You cannot go about holding meetings as you did pre-COVID-19. Depending on what industry they are in, they may be facing outsized pressures and challenges. Perhaps they have furloughed workers. So, it is important for us advisers to work hard at uncovering what they really want to talk about. Rip up the script and talk about what is really important to them.”

Graham says CAPTRUST was able to seamlessly move to working from home because the practice began using Microsoft Teams last year to hold virtual meetings.

“When the pandemic hit, we just practiced the logistics we had in place and conducted practice sessions,” he says.

As to how retirement plan advisers can improve participants’ outcomes, Graham says, the answer is simple.

“Continue to push for plan design elements that you know work—like auto features,” he says. “Increase engagement with employees. And even for those plan sponsors that are holding out on better decisions, keep pushing the envelope every year. Even if you get pushed back six times, the seventh time, there might be someone new on the committee who is willing to give a good idea a try.”

Client Service September 30, 2020

Advisers Giving Back: Stephanie Hunt

Stephanie Hunt at Atlanta Retirement Partners is closely involved with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia; she particularly enjoys donating her time to the Food 2 Kids program.
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Art by Giulia Tomai


Some of the subjects of PLANADVISER’s Advisers Giving Back profile series have started their service efforts recently.

At LeafHouse Financial, based in Austin, Texas, the latest charitable effort started as a direct response to the coronavirus pandemic and took the form of a charity fitness challenge in July involving the Peloton indoor cycling platform. In the case of Sentinel Benefits and Financial Group, based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, it was the unexpected passing of John Carnevale in April 2016 that helped to further formalize Sentinel’s commitment to giving back through the SentinelCares program.

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Stephanie Hunt, a retirement plan consultant with Atlanta Retirement Partners, says giving back has always been a part of her life.

“You know, I’ve always felt that it has been important to give back—and more so with your time than with your money,” Hunt says. “Of course, the money matters and that is important, but my work with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia has been all about giving my time and energy. In my experience, this is based in my Christian faith, though that’s obviously not going to be the same for everyone who is motivated to give. I think it has to do with how you are brought up. I was taught how important it is to give back from a young age, and to understand that you can have nothing and still give something back—your time and energy.”

Hunt says there is a strong community of giving in the Athens, Georgia, area, where she is based, which inspires her and others at Atlanta Retirement Partners, including David Griffin, the firm’s founder.

“Here in Athens, we have the University of Georgia [UGA],” she explains. “There are over 250 nonprofits that come out of connections with the school and the town. I think this stems from all the passionate people who graduate and say that they love Athens and that they want to stay and work to make it an even better place. So, that means there is a lot of opportunity to give back in our community.”

Hunt says she was drawn to service at the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia because of how fundamentally important food and shelter are to a dignified human life.

“We started simply by donating money, but they actually reached out and asked if I wouldn’t be willing to give time as well,” Hunt recalls. “I agreed, and that’s where I got connected with the Food 2 Kids program, which is a civic service effort operated within the food bank.”

The main goal of the program is to provide weekend meal bags to students who are identified by their teachers or guidance calendars as being food insecure, so the children have access to healthy food when they’re away from school. For Hunt, serving with the organization mainly involves being a driver and delivering the meal bags to schools throughout the region.

“It takes your physical energy and effort, and it’s just so amazing to get to see the kids and make sure they have full bellies so they can be better students,” Hunt says. “I’ve noticed that, over time, the food bank has been able to put more and more food in the bags, and that’s so great, but honestly they get heavy! You might have to lug in 25 or 50 or 100 bags for a school, depending on the kids who are there.”

Reflecting on the current moment, Hunt says the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some disruption, certainly, but it has also freed up more time for her to serve.

“The schools really had to step up, because they know better than anyone how important the school is for food security for many children,” Hunt says. “That’s something so many people overlook—how important school is from a nutritional perspective as well as an educational perspective. It is eye-opening to see that food insecurity is present everywhere. Even in a middle class neighborhood, you could have a neighbor next door to you that can’t put enough food on the table. You just never know.”

Hunt says she is concerned for the food bank because it has been unable to do its normal fall charity event, known as Will Rock 4 Food.

“[The food bank] normally brings in a band and has a big raffle and everything,” Hunt explains. “The event can raise more than $30,000 or $40,000 in one evening, which represents a significant part of the annual budget. I’m concerned about what this might mean for the food security programs, so we are trying to get the word out about still providing that support.”

Asked for advice about how to start giving back, Hunt’s answer is pretty simple.  

“My advice is just to get started, jump on Google and find a cause you are passionate about,” she recommends. “You won’t regret it, and it will serve to make the world a better place. A lot of the time you have to just step out of yourself and decide it is important to get involved personally. Also, be willing to be a volunteer and do what is asked of you—without trying to run the program.”

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