“Miss” Perceptions?

Next week we will launch our eighth annual search for the nation’s best retirement plan advisers.

Each year, we receive a number of inquiries from advisers about the awards, many that fall into a category I tend to think of as “exploratory”—feelers as to what we are looking for.

Well, at its core, what we hope to acknowledge—and, thus, what we are looking for—hasn’t changed at all from when we first launched the award in 2005: advisers who make a difference by enhancing the nation’s retirement security, through their support of plan sponsor and plan participant information, support, and education. And, since its inception, we’ve focused on advisers who do so through quantifiable measures: increased participation, higher deferral rates, better plan and participant asset allocation, and delivering expanded service and/or better expense management.

Now, we’ve always tried to be very transparent about the award, and the process that underlies the selection. That said, I know that some have questions—and perhaps misperceptions—about the award and how it is administered. So, based on conversations I have had with some of you over time, not to mention the general inquiries that emerge around an award that garners this much attention, here are five things you should know about PLANSPONSOR’s Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year award:

(1) It’s NOT a personality contest. Sure, advisers who are nominated by 30 of their closest friends and wholesalers stand out (though only after you’ve passed the quantitative round). But even then you get no extra points for having support in the “community.”

(2) You will have to provide actual data about the impact your firm is making on things that really matter. We look at participation rates, deferral increases, participant asset allocations, and even fee negotiations. And we will talk to your plan sponsor clients (and expect them to confirm your data). If you don’t have, or aren’t monitoring, those kinds of data, you probably aren’t ready for this award.

(3) Award semi-finalists and finalists are chosen based on a blind review of qualification data. Our process selects semi-finalists and finalists based solely on data and screened reference checks. Only after the finalists have been selected are their names known to the judges.

(4) Our judges sign nondisclosure agreements. Yes, we have judges for this award—judges who not only know the space, but know how to evaluate the data. Two of the five judges for each award are advisers; prior winners of the award, in fact. We have always thought their perspective was important as a “real world” check on the award criteria. That said, we understand that some advisers might be reluctant about sharing data about their practice1 with potential competitors—and our judges agree, in writing, to respect the confidentiality of that information.

(5) Those who don’t participate don’t win. It may be an honor “just to be nominated,” but those who don’t respond completely and accurately to the aforementioned requests for information don’t make it past the nomination round.

May the best adviser(s) win—and, based on our prior winners,they generally do.

—Nevin E. Adams, JD

Editor’s Note: Those who have additional questions should feel free to e-mail me at nevin.adams@assetinternational.com, or Alison Cooke-Mintzer at acooke@assetinternational.com

More background information on the award is available HERE
Additional information is available here


1 We’re not talking about client lists here; average rates of deferral and savings across your client base, your average client size, that kind of thing.

“Gold” Mettle

Memories of the 2008 Olympics are fading fast, but looking back I was most struck by the American team’s performance in the 400 freestyle relay.

That’s the one where Jason Lezak, 32, came from out of nowhere in the final leg to win the gold for his team. As incredible as that finish was (that he managed to take it from the team that was “talking trash” ahead of the event was even more satisfying), I was most struck by another statistic from that event; while the top five teams all finished under the previous world record time, two of them (Italy and Sweden) didn't even get a medal.

Watching that event unfold – particularly the top two finishers in the lanes adjacent to each other – you could see how the strong performance of each team – of every team in the race – served to spur each athlete to what may have been their best performance. That it wasn’t enough on that particular night to win a gold medal in no way diminishes their accomplishment – but it says something about how the best can inspire us all to new heights.

That is why, in 2005, we launched our Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year award; to acknowledge "the contributions of the nation's best financial advisers in helping make retirement security a reality for workers across the nation." It has always been our goal to bring to light the very best practices of the nation’s very best advisers (and adviser teams), and in so doing, to set – by your example - new standards for excellence in dealing with workplace retirement plans. One need look no further than the advisers that have been honored with that recognition to appreciate the impact.

Today it is both my honor and privilege to launch the nomination process for our fifth annual campaign to acknowledge the contributions of the very best financial advisers in the nation, both individuals and teams.

Impact Statement

The criteria that underlie the award are simple but meaningful; we want to recognize advisers who make a difference through increasing participation, boosting deferral rates, enhancing asset allocation, and/or providing better programs through expanded service or expense management. However, as we acknowledged a year ago, those criteria also underlie the Pension Protection Act’s designs for defined contribution plans. Consequently, while those objective standards will continue to establish a foundation for excellence, this year we will be placing an even greater emphasis on the evaluations of plan sponsors, the quality of consultative materials, leadership in the industry, and transparency of revenue-sharing practices. This year we hope, for the first time, to highlight specific excellence in working with 403(b) and 457 programs.

Once again this year we will acknowledge the finalists in PLANSPONSOR magazine, as well as PLANADVISER, and profile the winners in early 2009. The finalists also will be recognized at PLANSPONSOR’s Annual Awards for Excellence celebration in New York City.

There is nothing like tumultuous times to highlight the value of, and reinforce the need for, expert help for plan fiduciaries. It is also the kind of challenging environment that tends to separate the chaff from the wheat—that sorts out the committed from the merely intrigued. And, yes, it surely plays to the advantage of a profession dedicated to helping plan sponsors construct the right programs, and participants make the best of them.

While these awards are designed to recognize financial adviser excellence, we trust the standards they embody will continue to provide a source of inspiration for those who make a difference every day. As always I look forward to getting to know you, and your practices, better through this process.

Impact Full

In a business notorious for change, it nonetheless seems fair to say that the past twelve months have been extraordinary ones indeed for financial advisers. In short order, we have had to absorb and assimilate the mandates of the Pension Protection Act, grapple with the portents of qualified default investment alternatives, gird ourselves for the impact of final regulations on deferred compensation plans and 403(b)s—and all this at a time when revenue-sharing practices are drawing an unprecedented level of scrutiny from all quarters.

There is nothing like tumultuous times to highlight the value of, and reinforce the need for, expert help for plan fiduciaries. It is also the kind of challenging environment that tends to separate the chaff from the wheat—that sorts out the committed from the merely intrigued. And, yes, it surely plays to the advantage of a profession dedicated to helping plan sponsors construct the right programs, and participants make the best of them.

That is why, in 2005, we launched our Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year award; to acknowledge "the contributions of the nation's best financial advisers in helping make retirement security a reality for workers across the nation." Today, it is both my honor and privilege to launch the nomination process for our fourth annual campaign to acknowledge the contributions of the very best financial advisers in the nation, both individuals and teams.

Impact Statement

The criteria that underlie the award are simple but impactful; we want to recognize advisers who make a difference through increasing participation, boosting deferral rates, enhancing asset allocation, and/or providing better programs through expanded service or expense management. It is no accident that those criteria also underlie the Pension Protection Act’s designs for defined contribution plans, for only by getting more workers saving in these programs at effective rates, and invested in prudent ways, can they have any real prospects for retirement security.

We will acknowledge the finalists in the December issue of PLANSPONSOR as well as the Winter issue of PLANADVISER, and profile the winners in the March issue of PLANSPONSOR and Spring issue of PLANADVISER. The finalists also will be recognized at PLANSPONSOR’s Annual Awards for Excellence celebration in New York City in March.

It has been our privilege these past several years to lend a hand to your efforts—first via PLANSPONSOR magazine; then via PLANSPONSOR.com, the NewsDash, and this publication; and, more recently, via our education arm, the PLANSPONSOR Institute and our PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional (PRP) designation. Believe it or not, it was a year ago next month that we officially launched PLANADVISER—and later this month, we will offer our very first adviser-focused conference, the PLANADVISER National Conference, and I hope to see many of you there (but you need to register ASAP, if you haven’t already).

While these awards are designed to recognize financial adviser excellence, we trust the standards they embody will continue to provide a source of inspiration for those who make a difference every day. I look forward to getting to know you, and your practices, better through this process.

- Nevin Adams, JD

You can nominate a colleague, your plan's adviser, or yourself HERE