Longfellow Benefits, a Member Firm of NRP

Unlike some teams where members are segmented by job functions, at Longfellow, everyone does everything, Kendall Storch says. Each adviser has certain clients that are assigned to him, and then oversees all aspects of that plan, whether it be investment reviews, employee education, plan design, or just general troubleshooting. “We like clients to have a single point of contact,” Storch explains. However, he says, the more complicated the plan, the more people might be assigned to that client.

Their servicing approach grew out of the firm’s hiring practices. The team members were brought on over eight years (Phil LeBlanc was one of four founding partners in 1999; Kendall Storch joined in 2000; David Boucher started in 2002; Andrew Hershenow was added in 2005; and, this fall, the team brought on Adam Miloro). By bringing people on sporadically, rather than all at once, the team grew with people who were familiar with all aspects of the business, instead of one or two tasks. Another upside of this design, Storch says, is that, although the client has one point of contact, if that person were to be out of the office, clients know that anyone they deal with at Longfellow will be knowledgeable.

The team currently does not offer individual money management, but recognizes the need created by the retiring Baby Boomers. Storch says that the big question for the firm is to evaluate what is the best way to tackle the project of building out the money-management practice.