Stace
Hilbrant, managing director of 401k Advisors LLC in Wilmette, Illinois, takes
pride in his business’s face-to-face client service model. Hilbrant’s firm was
one of the original founding firms of 401k Advisors USA, which was later
renamed National Retirement Partners before being acquired by LPL Financial in
2010. In 2003, he incorporated in suburban Chicago as 401k Advisors LLC and
sold his first 401(k) plan advisory services to D.A. Stuart Company, which
makes products for the aluminum manufacturing industry. “I have that first
check stapled to my wall,” he says.
Graystone Consulting–Danvers, Massachusetts, takes a
holistic approach to advising retirement plan clients. This involves a
combination of plan management, investment management and participant services,
says Matthew McLaughlin, senior institutional consultant and financial adviser
at the Danvers office of Graystone Consulting, a business of Morgan Stanley
Smith Barney LLC. “All three of those levers have to work together to have an
optimum plan, optimum outcomes,” he says.
Workplace retirement plan investors who use target-date
funds (TDFs) feel more secure about reaching their retirement goals and
managing their portfolios than those who do not use them.
Eighty-four percent of professional service firms say
compliance with regulations is their top concern when sponsoring retirement
plans for their employees.
"Each year we find new names and faces within this process,
advisers who we enjoy getting to know, whether through speaking at or attending
our conferences, through email exchanges or because they become finalists for
the awards. I hope that continues, and that we get a chance to know you—and
your practices—even better this year."
At first glance, Pinterest looks like a haven for crafty
moms, avid cooks and brides-to-be. The rapidly growing social network allows
users to create virtual pinboards to collect, organize and share interests,
many of them involving food and fashion.