Heffernan Financial Services, a Member Firm of NRP

The retirement plans group at Heffernan Financial Services is small but, with only two advisers and two support staff, it manages 75 plans. Heffernan Financial Services is a part of the Heffernan Group, a property and casualty firm. John Prichard has been at the firm since 1991, and Blake Thibault joined in 2006. According to Prichard, the retirement group at Heffernan Financial Services has doubled revenue the last two years, something they would like to repeat in the next two years.

Describing their practice as a full-service firm, Thibault says one of the big questions is how to manage growth. “Customer service is a cornerstone of our business.” So, to grow up-market and bring on new plans, there most likely will need to be some hiring in the next couple of years.

In addition to the Pension Protection Act (PPA), Thibault and Prichard see opportunities from other 2007 regulatory actions, including final regulations on qualified default investment alternatives (QDIAs) and 403(b). In fact, taking on new 403(b) plans will be a target for the firm next year.

One interesting development over the last year among existing plans, Prichard says, is that nearly all of the plans they have taken on have mapped to target-date funds for each participant. Only one plan sponsor said no, opting for a more traditional like-fund mapping approach. They haven’t yet studied how long participants stayed in the target-date funds after the conversion, but he is optimistic.