2024 Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year Nominations Are Open

PLANADVISER is asking for your help in identifying the best retirement plan advisers in the country. If you work with or know of a great plan adviser or plan adviser team, please help us recognize the best in the business.

For the third year in a row, the awards are being issued in six categories. However, we have separated our recognition for Community Impact and Giving Back into a separate program and replaced that category with 403(b) Plan Service, because it never felt right to select a “winner” in the Community Impact category. We will recognize advisers making a Community Impact through our editorial department and coverage in PLANADVISER.

In addition, we have added subcategories for our Closing the Coverage Gap award—one for MEPs/PEPs and one for Micro/Startup Plans—to further define what we are trying to recognize with these awards.

Nominations for the 2024 PLANADVISER Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year awards are now being accepted in six categories:

• Plan Sponsor Service – Nominate individuals only. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their innovation and dedication in the service of retirement plan sponsor clients, with a particular focus on the efficient and effective delivery of plan-level support. The Plan Sponsor Service category recognizes those advisers directly serving and working with plan sponsors and should be recognizable to the plan sponsor client.
• Plan Participant Service – Nominate individuals only. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their innovation and dedication in the service of retirement plan participants, with a particular focus on the efficient and effective delivery of individual-level advice and education.
• Mentorship – Nominate individuals or teams. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their commitment and success in supporting the personal and professional growth of their firm’s staff, their fellow advisers and their industry peers.
• Efforts in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) – Nominate individuals or teams. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their success in addressing the financial services industry’s clear and present diversity problem, with a particular focus on the importance of creating equitable and fair workplaces.
• 403(b) Plan Service – Nominate individuals only. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their innovation and dedication in the service of 403(b) plan sponsor clients. The category is intended to recognize those advisers focused on the efficient and effective delivery of plan-level support, not product sales.
• Closing the Coverage Gap – Nominate individuals only. Finalists and winners in this category stand out for their dedication to helping more Americans, especially those who work for small businesses or who are members of underrepresented communities, gain access to quality workplace retirement plans. The category includes two subcategories to further define the work advisers are doing, whether with multiple employer and pooled employer plans or with startup plans.

Nominations are welcome from plan sponsor clients, employers and brokers/dealers, as well as from working partners of these advisers, such as product and service providers, investment vendors, accountants, attorneys and plan administrators. However, self-nominations are not permitted, and only nominations from plan sponsor clients will be accepted for the Plan Sponsor Service, Plan Participant Service and 403(b) Plan Service categories.

Award recipients across all categories will be honored at the PLANADVISER Industry Leader Awards on in New York City on May 8, 2024. Finalists and winners for Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year awards will be featured online at PLANADVISER.com. Previous Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year winners can be viewed at https://www.planadviser.com/awards.

 The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2024 Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year awards  is December 8, 2023. Questions can be directed to awards@issmediasolutions.com.

The nomination form is here. You may preview the form here before submitting your nomination.