Why the Winners

Photo by Matt Kalinowski

In May , we hosted our second annual PLANADVISER Industry Leader Awards; it was an evening honoring people across the industry who really make a difference in improving savings and retirement outcomes for American workers. We gave out Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year awards in six categories: Plan Sponsor Service; Plan Participant Service; Closing the Coverage Gap; Efforts in DEI [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion]; Mentorship; and Community Impact and Giving Back. 

Employing the categories mentioned above, and not just picking the “best” from a group lumped together according to the size of the practice, enabled us to focus more on the things that both truly differentiate advisory practices and work to propel the industry forward. There is also now a clear methodology, across most of our different categories, for determining what made someone remarkable. 

But, as people are continually asking, what does it take to get to be a finalist or the winner in a set category, I thought it might be helpful to explain, in simple terms, what each category looks for. 

The Plan Sponsor Service and Plan Participant Service categories are the ones most like our previous awards. For Plan Sponsor Service, we found advisers who really dedicate themselves to fulfilling the role their clients need them to when it comes to plan governance—answering the question: “How do you help your plan sponsors be better fiduciaries?” For the Plan Participant category, we examine how advisers are serving participants in what we all know is a very challenging environment, with regulations as well as concerns about conflicts of interest, while still finding effective ways to provide education and, in some cases, advice. 

Our categories of Mentorship and DEI recognize and confront challenges our industry faces, notably an aging adviser population and the fact that it has traditionally been dominated by white men. For the Mentorship category, we look for people who support professional and personal opportunities for growth within their team and practice, as well as actively participate to educate others about the industry to help them grow their career in it. For DEI, we look for those individuals addressing the financial services industry’s clear and present diversity problem, with a particular focus on the importance of encouraging more to pursue roles in the financial advisory industry and creating equitable and fair workplaces, especially for women and people of color. 

If we embrace the fact that success in saving for retirement begins with having access to a retirement plan, then expanding coverage is vital. The idea for the Closing the Coverage Gap category emphasizes those advisers who aren’t just serving plans already in existence but creating new plans—especially multiple employer plans and pooled employer plans—to provide for those who have not traditionally had access.

Our last category is one we don’t have an ideal benchmark for. In the area of Community Impact and Giving Back, for two years we’ve had an amazing group of entrants who are creating positive change through philanthropy and service. Their applications and interviews are humbling and awe-inspiring, and in both years we struggled with how to select a “winner” from among the people serving and supporting, in such varied ways, the local, regional, national and global communities in which they operate. Because of this, the judges have discussed revamping the category for next year. Stay tuned for more on that evolution.

I know you’ll enjoy reading about this year’s award winners. And I encourage you to nominate peers for next year’s awards when the nomination process opens again, this fall.