401k Plan Professionals
WINNERBusiness at a Glance as of 12/31/22
- Plan assets under advisement: $1.2 billion
- Median plan size (in assets): $10 million
- Plans under administration: 125
- Total participants served: 10,000
PLANADVISER: Tell us about your practice and how you got into advising retirement plans.
401k Plan Professionals: Our team is an all-women advisory team with participant education at the core of what we do. Each adviser started in the retirement plan advisory business because of their passion for helping plan participants. Jessica Ballin started 401k Plan Professionals in 2007 after spending time in a wirehouse broker/dealer. Since Day 1, our team’s emphasis has been on a fully customized education experience that is taught exclusively by the advisers, not by a third-party provider. We take time learning about sponsors, their industry, and staff while creating content that matches the employees’ learning styles and experience. Expanding financial literacy for every participant is our goal.
PLANADVISER: How is your team/process/structure unique? How has it evolved? Where will you be in five years?
401k Plan Professionals: Our team is personable, trustworthy, reliable and proactive. We are an all-women team of advisers who spend 100% of our time on corporate and nonprofit retirement plans. We take a very active role with our clients and provide them with white-glove service. Our clients know that we can be their first phone call with questions or concerns, and we will resolve any issues. Most importantly, we have a passion for helping plan participants.
Our core values have stayed the same, but our services to our clients and participants continue to evolve. We collaborate and develop creative ways to be of value to our clients through our monthly webinar series, customized videos, quarterly fiduciary training and our annual Fiduciary Summit. The advisers and staff have regular team meetings to assure everyone on the team has a pulse on what is happening with our clients. Our team approach allows any one of the advisers to be out, yet we can still provide full back-up and support for our clients. This is how we achieve first-phone-call resolution. In five years, we hope to add to our book of business while retaining our client base. Participant education continues to evolve, and we will surely stay ahead of that in order to prioritize the financial literacy of all American workers.
PLANADVISER: As a retirement plan adviser, what do you take the most pride in?
401k Plan Professionals: Our team takes pride in helping plan participants wherever they are in their journey. We have a saying at our office that our clients are family. Our advisers have the ability to connect with plan participants by being a trusted adviser and connecting at their level. We build relationships with HR, managers and rank-and-file employees. These relationships grow as we get the opportunity to connect in both group and one-on-one settings; that is how we can really make a difference. As an adviser for more than 20 years helping some of the same participants; I have witnessed their success in reaching financial milestones and achieving retirement success. We truly believe we are making a difference in the financial lives of the participants we get to work with.
PLANADVISER: How do you grow your business? What changes to your practice or service model are you planning for 2023 or 2024?
401k Plan Professionals: Our growth has come organically through referrals. Our passion for helping plan participants and white-glove service is recognized by our clients and peers. We are always finding ways to be more creative with our service model and the way we educate participants. Our team has been very successful at reaching participants through multiple channels of communication.
PLANADVISER: What challenges do you think the retirement plan industry faces and what role do you have in addressing and confronting those challenges?
401k Plan Professionals: The industry as a whole has continued to expand its technology and retirement readiness calculators, which is wonderful; however, it seems the focus on asset management and complex products is at an all-time high. We feel that plan sponsors and participants do not need to be inundated with complex explanations and extra fees. We address this by spending time with sponsors and participants, whether it’s an investment committee meeting or a lunch to celebrate a small victory. We consistently provide relevant industry updates and hot topics at every meeting.
PLANADVISER: Why do you feel it is important to work individually with plan participants?
401k Plan Professionals: Plan participants are looking for a trusted local adviser to guide them on their financial decisions. The statistics are clear. Many of these decisions are unique to their situation, which is why the one-on-one consultation adds a tremendous amount of value. These individual sessions help move the needle and focus on the participants’ specific needs. It is in these meetings that the advisers can differentiate the values of Roth vs. pre-tax, guide them in a rollover, setup their beneficiary, utilize the retirement income calculator and help them with their specific questions. We believe that great plan design and exceptional retirement planning calculators are successful IF combined with individual meeting offerings customized to the needs of each participant.
PLANADVISER: What are the biggest challenges that plan participants face today and how are you helping to address them?
401k Plan Professionals: The average working adult in the U.S. continues to face complexities from our industry, from misinformation from HR staff or family members to confusing forms to long wait times in call centers to inability to use the technology offered. We bring a high-touch-service model to every client: Our goal is to empower participants to feel comfortable enough to reach out and call our office. We notice many plan participants feel that they know nothing about the benefit of saving, the stock market or even an investment like a mutual fund. We take pride knowing that we are offering lifelong education to those who need it the most.