Megan Warzinski,
HB Retirement

Business at a Glance as of 12/31/23

• Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• How many plan assets do you have under advisement? $3.5B
• What is your median plan size (in assets)? $3.1M
• How many plans do you have under administration? 300
• How many participants in total do you serve? 56,500
• Parent firm: N/A

PLANADVISER: How is your team unique/competitive in the marketplace?

Warzinski: For 130 years, our firm has helped employers avoid and mitigate risk. Within HB Retirement, we hold ourselves to the highest standard of care as the trusted adviser for the retirement plans and the participants we serve. With 28 team members dedicated to the retirement plan space, our experience allows us to offer uniquely detailed insights. Our team of retirement plan consultants understand the intricacies of plan governance, regulatory compliance, and employee engagement. They provide guidance on services and plan design options, share best practices, oversee plan fees and investment monitoring/benchmarking and keep our clients informed of regulatory changes and industry trends. Our team of financial advisers is dedicated to building comfort and trust with employees and is focused on improving engagement and outcomes. Our comprehensive financial wellness program for employees includes personalized guidance through both group and one-on-one sessions conducted on-site or remotely. In addition, employees have access to a customized financial wellness hub website featuring video messages from advisers, plan details and additional resources. We offer a call center for employee questions and monthly financial webinars covering a range of relevant topics.

PLANADVISER: How do you grow your business? What changes to your practice or service model are you planning for 2024?

Warzinski: In my over 18 years with HB Retirement, our team has been encouraged to seek innovative solutions, uniquely structure our service model and creatively grow our business. We continue to evaluate revenue streams that will help us remain independent and sustainable. We know that revenue continues to compress at the top end of the consulting market, so a service model that is scalable and efficient is important. The creation of our pooled employer plan has helped us address volume challenges within the smaller end of our business by providing automation and efficiency. While others approach growing their business through acquisition, we have done so organically by offering creative solutions for executives through internal relationships within Henderson Brothers (our parent company) and through partnerships for financial well-being, emergency savings solutions, student loan repayment plans and institutional individual retirement arrangement programs.

PLANADVISER: Are you connected to a wealth management division? If so, please explain how you work for them and your goals for coordination. If not, please explain whether you plan to be in the future, or not, and why.

Warzinski: HB Retirement is comprised of retirement plan consultants and financial advisers. These teams partner together on each retirement plan relationship, so both divisions are always working together. The financial advisers are dedicated to improving the financial well-being of employees. Our team offers a comprehensive suite of services aimed at empowering participants to make informed decisions about their personal finances and retirement planning. The team brings a wealth of expertise and knowledge to support our retirement plan clients and our advisers are equipped to address a wide range of financial planning needs and challenges unique to the clients we serve. By offering a robust financial wellness program and wealth management services, our clients improve employee engagement, satisfaction and financial security. Our personalized approach, combined with innovative resources and ongoing support, empowers employees to take control of their financial futures and achieve their long-term goals.

PLANADVISER: Why do you feel that retirement plan advisers should get involved in the expansion of the DC retirement plan system to cover more employers and, in doing so, more employees?

Warzinski: For advisers committed to making an impact with a belief that the work they do in this space matters, there is an obligation to advocate for employees and an expanded retirement plan system. Experts in our industry recognize the importance of retirement savings and need to demonstrate on a broader scale how employer-sponsored plans can fundamentally affect an employee’s financial well-being. The expansion of retirement plan system solutions allows employers to be flexible in offering a program that makes the most sense for their business. In addition to expanding access because it’s the “right thing to do,” we also know that if employees are able to retire on their own terms, instead of working longer, it helps an employer with the rising costs of an aging workforce on their employee benefits plans and, in certain industries, helps to mitigate potential workers’ compensation claims. Offering a retirement plan that covers your employees, while including a robust financial well-being strategy, can help an employer manage or even avoid costs associated with their workforce.

PLANADVISER: What are the biggest stumbling blocks to adding more tax-advantaged retirement savings opportunities in the workforce? What are you doing to try and overcome them?

Warzinski: It is my belief that many employers decide not to offer a retirement savings plan to their workforce due to the cost of implementing a plan and the ongoing compliance concerns associated with it. From HB Retirement’s perspective, our pooled employer plan was developed largely to address these issues. For smaller employers, many are limited in the platforms available for new plans and oftentimes, the investment expense is excessive. The HB PEP offers an employer a competitive cost structure and access to low expense mutual funds and collective investment trusts. Additionally, we know that smaller employers often do not have staff designated solely to the retirement plan benefit, so compliance and administrative concerns are often a challenge. Being able to delegate the fiduciary duties to a third party helps to minimize risk and reduce additional compliance and administrative work for the employer.

Another solution we have introduced to address the challenges for employers is the ANKR IRA. This is an institutional individual retirement account program that features an institutional lineup including target-date funds—so it is much like a retirement plan. It can be used to automatically roll the balances of terminated participants with account balances less than $7,000 and be used for participants who want to voluntarily roll over their balances out of the plan, but don’t have a balance large enough to meet the minimum threshold for other investment advisory firms. This program allows any participant, regardless of their account value, to participate in an institutionally managed IRA.

These innovative and creative solutions, along with other financial solutions, such as emergency savings programs, are helping to close the coverage gap.