Kelli Davis,
CSi Advisory Services, a division of HUB International

Business at a Glance as of 12/31/23

• Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
• How many plan assets do you have under advisement? $416.8M
• What is your median plan size (in assets)? $5.5M
• How many plans do you have under administration? 75 plans
• How many participants in total do you serve? 10,425 participants
• Parent firm: HUB International

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

Davis: I believe our firm is competitive in a few ways. First, we have a third-party administration division in our practice. This service allows us to offer an in-depth and consultative approach to plan design with our clients. Two, we have had a wealth management division in our practice since our inception. Our focus has been in the smaller plan space (less than 100 employees) and our wealth management team can offer personalized advice to our plan participants. Third, our expansive knowledge of 403(b) plans and the non-profit space has set us apart in the marketplace. We currently manage the retirement assets of 10% of the public school systems in Indiana.

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

Davis: Since joining HUB in 2022, we have seen a significant increase in growth in our practice. We have increased our plan count by 25%. Our service model has not changed to our clients, but we are expanding our team to provide the same level of service our clients are used to receiving. Our employee education services continue to expand each year as our goal of reaching all participants remains our primary objective.

PLANADVISER: What challenges do you think the retirement plan industry faces, and what role do you have in addressing and confronting those challenges?

Davis: I think defined contribution plans have a branding issue right now. With the recent news articles and congressional hearings, retirement plans and their effectiveness are under attack. I believe it is our job to continue to promote their effectiveness and cite specific examples of how they are life-changing for the workers who have access to them. Ultimately I think the coverage gap is still problematic, though improving, and hopefully it will continue to do so with the use of PEPs. Creating a simplified onboarding process for clients to adopt these plans I feel will increase PEP usage.

PLANADVISER: Please tell us about an important issue that your 403(b) plan sponsor clients face and what actions you have taken to assist them in overcoming those issues.

Davis: Since I focus primarily on the public k-12 space, most of the school corporations I encounter are still using multiple vendors with variable annuity contracts. It makes administering and monitoring their plans very cumbersome. The districts are not able to implement plan design features such as automatic enrollment, auto escalation or use QDIAs. Much of my initial job is to educate the various parties on what their retirement plan could be like and what impact we could have on their employees. I use case studies of other local districts and the results of moving to a single vendor plan. Some of the results of the single vendor model have shown participation increased from 29% to 88%, annual cost savings of $900,000 and implementation of automatic enrollment.

PLANADVISER: How did you get started advising 403(b) plan sponsors? What advice would you give other advisers wanting to enter this market?

Davis: Education is in my blood. I was raised by a first grade teacher and I am married to a special education teacher, so I have never been far from the classroom. When I first entered the industry 20 years ago, I was working with my mother and at the time she had eight 403(b) accounts. I found out later this was actually a low number of accounts but it was difficult for her and her peers to determine how much they really had saved for retirement. I slowly started to be introduced to school districts but I really began working with schools when I started dating my now husband. He asked me to look at his 403(b) account and I was horrified to see he was paying 3.95% in fees. Teachers are vital to society and while I cannot control what they are paid and I can help their districts to see there is a better way to provide retirement benefits where their savings are not destroyed by fees. I truly enjoy this space and encourage others to work with schools. It is a long process from the first introduction to them becoming a client. Many of my plans have taken years to work through the administration, the teacher’s associations and school boards. I don’t view this as red tape, I view it as I am asking them to make a seismic shift in their approach and they want to be informed.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Global Retirement Partners, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Insurance services offered through HUB International. Global Retirement Partners, CSi Advisory Services, a division of HUB International, and HUB Retirement and Wealth Management are not affiliated with LPL Financial.