Insights

Change in the retirement industry often requires a reexamination of the assumptions driving our growth strategies. In a shifting, saturated market, we must constantly reexamine retirement resources so we can recognize when our long-held beliefs no longer benefit our clients. The following misconceptions may be hindering the growth of your firm.

• The average Annuity Purchase Interest rates slightly dipped this past month, with the average duration 7 rate at 3.78% and average duration 15 at 3.93%.

Winning new clients can take a lot of time, energy and even money—so, finding ways to minimize your costs while maximizing growth in your practice is key. The most successful retirement plan advisors are utilizing tools and resources up front that allow them to zero in on high probability wins and take low probability opportunities out of the equation. How can you identify those “best” prospects? We’ve identified five smart tips that will help you step up your retirement plan prospecting game.

Amid endless competition and the ever-growing needs of existing clients, Retirement Plan Advisors are faced with navigating a newly volatile financial landscape. Thriving in this world requires setting yourself apart. But with increasing demands on advisors’ already limited time, and sponsors hungry for meaningful guidance and support, it can be difficult to know what to focus on. 

Changes in the retirement industry landscape often require a reexamination of the assumptions and beliefs that drive our growth strategies. In a shifting, saturated market, we must be able to recognize when what we once held true no longer serves us or our clients and prospects. This reflection is vital in order to ensure not only our own success, but that of the people and organizations we serve. This is especially true in the search for new clients. 

In April 2020, as part of a developing relationship, an advisory firm, “Advisors, Inc.,” met with a manufacturing organization to discuss the retirement plans they were currently offering to their employees. In those discussions with the organization’s senior leadership, frustrations surfaced regarding an existing defined benefit (DB) plan. While not yet engaged to advise on the retirement plans, Advisors, Inc. was asked for its thoughts. 

Sponsors in the hospital industry are looking to advisors for guidance on how to manage the costs and operations of pension plans. This checklist is filled with actionable considerations for plan sponsors of both active and frozen defined benefit plans.

On August 12, 2022, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision by a lower court in Walsh v. Alight Solutions LLC enforcing (with modifications) an administrative subpoena by the Department of Labor against Alight. The subpoena requires Alight to produce documents in connection with alleged cybersecurity breaches at Alight with respect to the retirement and health plans for which it provides recordkeeping services.

As a retirement plan advisor, you know the importance of communicating to plan sponsors how current events may impact the health and performance of their plan(s). But great value also lies in helping them understand how our country’s ever-shifting socioeconomic landscape could affect the retirement readiness of their plan participants. While the state of retirement in America has long been in crisis, recent months have brought another crisis—events of a magnitude that could present significant challenges even for those who had been well-prepared for retirement. 

Increased competition, firm compression, similar value propositions, and margin reduction all point to one thing: retirement plan advisors need to find ways to differentiate themselves if growth is their goal. The advisors who are succeeding in today’s market make themselves indispensable to sponsors due to the quality of ideas they share, the resulting cost savings, and the genuine care they show for sponsors’ best interests.