Deals & People June 15, 2023

SageView to Acquire Retirement Benefits Group’s Founding Team

The advisory aggregator will acquire retirement plan consulting firm leads with $5.2 billion in assets under administration.

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SageView Advisory Group will acquire the founding team of Retirement Benefits Group, bringing on its retirement plan consulting capabilities and wealth management.

RBG co-founders Tony Franchimone and Larry Deatherage will become managing directors at SageView, bringing on $5.2 billion in assets under administration and $63 million in assets under management, according to an announcement from Newport Beach, California-based SageView. Franchimone and Deatherage, who started RBG in 2010, will be joined by retirement plan consultant Cory McCarthy, wealth adviser Winston Ventura and client services associate Rachel Hall. 

SageView CEO Randy Long says the fact that RBG was operating in both retirement plans and wealth management made them a strong fit and that Franchimone and Deatherage are particularly knowledgeable about managed accounts. 

“We’ve been competing with Tony and Larry for 20 years, and we’re glad that we’ll now be working together with them,” Long says.

The head of SageView says the RBG founding team was also a good regional fit, while he believes SageView’s size and capabilities will help the RBG team grow its wealth management practice.

“It just shows that you need really need scale to compete in this business,” he says.

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SageView did not disclose terms of the deal. The transaction is expected to close on June 30.

The acquisition is SageView’s ninth since July 2021, when private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners took a majority stake in the firm with the stated goal of bringing together retirement services and wealth management, as well as expanding financial wellness offerings. Earlier this year, the firm launched its own financial wellness and education platform for participants.

SageView currently advises on more than 1,900 defined contribution, defined benefit and deferred compensation plans, in addition to providing wealth management services. The firm continues to identify new advisers who are a “strong cultural and growth fit” through acquisitions and recruiting, according to the announcement.

San Diego-based RBG provides retirement plan consulting solutions, executive benefits and retirement management services.

“SageView’s centralized support teams in practice management, advisory services, marketing and business development provide the support we need to continue our growth and success serving retirement plan sponsors,” Franchimone said in a statement. “We will also be able to evolve our wealth management technology and operations with SageView.”

Long of SageView noted that the firm will continue to look for advisory teams that are a good match.

“There are benefits of scale that we can provide that small providers are really looking for,” he says.

RBG had more than a dozen other team members located in 13 offices around the U.S., according to the firm’s website. The firm became an affiliate of OneDigital in 2020 when the retirement consulting and wealth aggregator acquired Resources Investment Advisors LLC, bringing on 13 retirement plan and wealth management firms, including RBG.

George Fraser, formerly a managing director with RBG, says he and the other RBG advisers will continue to operate as they have been: running independent practices in affiliation with aggregators OneDigital, in his case, and for some other advisers, Hub International. 

“It has been a great run for the team at RBG,” Fraser says. “We wish Larry and Tony the best of luck.”

Products June 15, 2023

Betterment Launches 529 Education Savings Solution

Users will be able to view their education savings alongside their other investments in one dashboard. 

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Betterment at Work, a provider of financial benefits, has launched a 529 education savings solution that offers plan participants a digital dashboard for 529 plan enrollment and contributions.  

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The 529 solution is provided through a partnership with Ascensus and will be available to plan sponsors who leverage Betterment’s 401(k). The new product allows employers to offer 529 plans, support payroll direct deposits and provide a matching contribution. 

“Our offering at the core is a 401(k), but alongside saving for retirement, we know that individuals are also thinking about how to save for future education needs, how to pay down student debt, thinking about an emergency savings,” says Kristen Carlisle, general manager and vice president at Betterment. “We’ve built a platform that allows for people to conceptualize these financial decisions alongside each other.” 

Education and retirement savings are tethered to one another, says Carlisle. The two SECURE 2.0 provisions focused on student loan payments—employer contributions matching student loan payments and the ability to set up emergency savings vehicles—do not go into effect until 2024. Once they take effect, individuals will more easily be able to consider student debt management and retirement saving at the same time. 

“Those who are not paying down student debt no longer need to be penalized by not contributing to their 401(k),” she says. “If their employer has a match, they can match into their 401(k) what they’re paying down their debt.” 

In addition, included in SECURE 2.0 is the expansion of how 529 accounts can be leveraged. Individuals can save for education purposes beyond just higher education institutions. According to Carlisle, it has been proposed that excess 529 funds could go into the beneficiary’s IRA.  

“We’re excited by the opportunity to expand 529 awareness and availability to the Betterment community through this integrated solution,” added Peg Creonte, president of government savings at Ascensus, in a statement. “Our partnership with Betterment is just one example of our continued commitment to technology-first distribution solutions for our institutional clients and state partners.” 

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