Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year Finalists

In the last issue, we highlighted some of the nation’s most successful retirement plan advisers (see “Standing Out from the Crowd,” PLANADVISER, Year in Review 2008). This issue, we unveil the finalists for PLANSPONSOR’s Retirement Plan Adviser and Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year.

This is the fifth year that PLANSPONSOR has recognized the efforts of the nation’s best retirement plan advisers, and the third that we have acknowledged the efforts of retirement plan adviser teams. On the pages that follow, we will introduce you briefly to the men and women who have demonstrated the kind of leadership and commitment to excellence that have been hallmarks of these awards. That commitment is evidenced by the impact these advisers have had on participation rates, deferrals, asset allocation, and a better understanding and appreciation of these programs. It is striking how committed they are, as a group, to the creative application of the tools embedded in the Pension Protection Act—automatic enrollment, accelerated deferrals, asset allocated default funds—and yet how equally committed they are to the time-honored one-on-one approach to helping participants (and plan sponsors) make thoughtful, prudent choices.

We will announce the winners of this year’s awards at the annual PLANSPONSOR/PLANADVISER Awards Dinner on April 2, 2009, in New York, and I hope some of you will be able to join us. These really are the best of the best. We’re honored to play a role in highlighting their contributions.

The 2009 PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year finalists

The 2009 PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year finalists