Practice Management June 8, 2022

Building Practice Culture: The Next Generation

As an adviser, Janine Moore says those in the next generation must have access to good mentors and peers whom they can trust.
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The May edition of the 2022 PLANADVISER Practice Progress webinar series tackled critical questions on the topic of firm culture—what it is and what it takes to build a positive and productive environment for both staff and leadership.

The webinar presented perspectives from three of this year’s PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year finalists. The final interview of the webinar featured Janine Moore, senior vice president at HUB Retirement and Wealth Management, who discussed how her past experiences have influenced what team building and mentorship actually mean.

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Moore has been successful as a retirement planning adviser for over 20 years, but before that she managed a call center, Moore said. They took a lot of hardship calls from people trying to get money out of their retirement plan early, and most of the time the callers didn’t qualify.

“It would cause that person to get angry and want to elevate the call. I would usually get those elevated calls,” Moore said. “That’s where I really learned the most. It’s a psychological job, to try to take people off the ledge and help them find solutions that don’t involve taking money out of retirement. And I always felt the best when I could successfully say that they kept the money in plan and found a solution.”

After her call center position, she moved into sales, until she finally moved from the wealth management space into retirement, Moore said. During that time, she met many great mentors, which led to wanting to become one herself.

“I’ll start with Darrell, who’s my partner. Even though we’re peers [and] we’re probably about the same age, he is just full of knowledge, and I go to him for most of my very important decisions because I just trust him implicitly,” Moore said. “Mentors will give you the truth. They’re going to tell you, good, bad or indifferent, whether you’re making a good decision. I also count on my team, and I try to mentor them, give them the same kind of open feedback without criticizing them to the point where they feel like they’re being critically criticized.”

Moore said she has also been very active in the women’s segment of the advisory world, including being a part of the National Association of Plan Advisors for several years. This has allowed her to meet female advisers from across the country.

“I have actually had the opportunity to form a study group that we call the Retirement Alliance. And this retirement alliance is just top advisers that are willing to kind of let their hair down and say to each other, ‘Hey, we’re not going to worry about what firm we work with, we’re just going to try to help each other succeed,’” Moore said. “Because when we all succeed, it lifts the entire industry up.”

Starting out in the industry, Moore said, she was usually one of the few in the room who were different from the majority. She knew that greater diversity would take some time to accomplish.

“Now I’m at the stage in my life where I want to leave a legacy behind, and I want it to look like me,” Moore said. “It’s not just about having more Black people, or Asian people or Hispanic people, it’s about having all types of people, and I think it’s only going to broaden. The United States comprises many different types of people, so we need to be able to meet those people where they are.”

The retirement industry has many barriers to entry, and to bring people in, recruitment needs to begin at a younger age, Moore said. She’s done active college recruiting, mock interviews and some panel work to help teach students about what she does—and mentorship plays a role in educating the next generation.

“What I believe is that every one of us has it within us to be a mentor. If we’ve made it to a level where we’re able to pay our bills on time, and have received awards, like the ones that you’ve given, then there’s no excuse,” Moore said. “We should be mentoring someone else. We should also be positioning the next generation to take over, instead of just resting on our accolades.”

Practice Management June 7, 2022

Building Practice Culture: Mentors and Mentees

The relationship between mentor and mentee should be mutually beneficial, as both work to accomplish their many shared and individual goals.
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Art by Jam Dong


The May edition of the 2022 PLANADVISER Practice Progress webinar series tackled critical questions on the topic of firm culture—what it is and what it takes to build a positive and productive environment for both staff and leadership.

The webinar presented perspectives from three of this year’s PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year finalists. The second interview of the webinar featured Lisa Buffington, retirement services vice president at Marsh & McLennan Agency in New England, who discussed the importance of mentorship to a practice’s current and future success.

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A Big Transition

Before her role at MMA, Buffington held a number of roles at Prudential Retirement for about 27 years, Buffington said. As she made her transition from Prudential to MMA, she had several good mentors to learn and observe from. In fact, she said, mentorship was instrumental in her early success.

“In the course of my 27 years in this industry, I’ve had a number of great mentors and advocates who have supported me throughout the years,” Buffington said. “I highlight [former MMA Managing Director] Bob Clark, specifically, because he was one of the key individuals and sources of influence, helping me make that conversion from the provider side of the business over to the financial advisory side of the business.”

Having worked with many leading advisers in the retirement space, Buffington said, she was able to observe and leverage the great relationships she had with Clark and his team. He saw something in her and thought it would be a great opportunity to add her to the team at MMA.

Some Keys to Mentorship

Now, when she talks to mentees, Buffington thinks back to those who have supported her throughout her own career and strives to emulate their example. She believes the strongest mentors and mentees represent individuals who do not allow their leadership and influence potential to be limited by their title or inability to hold a corner office role. The strongest and most influential leaders (as mentors and mentees), she said, hone their talents and harness their passion and motivation to make a difference.

When an adviser is looking for a mentor, she recommends that advisers identify someone who has been a key source of influence; often, one does not have to look far to find great sources of support.

“I think about ‘who are those advocates?’ Those people that you think could serve as your champions,” Buffington said. “It is important to find the mentors that really believe in your cause. They are going to be in tune with what you bring to the table relative to your strengths and your skillset. They are aware of the areas where you serve as inspiration to others.”

Those interested in “raising their hand” to become a mentor should know there are mutual benefits that can be achieved when the relationship is approached in this manner, Buffington said. Success comes when both parties come to the table intentionally and with a clear understanding about what they want to accomplish together.

“Mentors really stand to gain just as much as they are giving in terms of advice, guidance, learning and sharing to the mentees,” Buffington said. “I can’t say enough about what I’ve learned from the mentees that I have worked with. It’s a valuable experience when it’s approached that way.”

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