Growth-minded advisors are always looking for opportunities to grow their businesses. Like most entrepreneurs, you may hardly ever be short on ideas. The question is which ones will work? Where will the “juice be worth the squeeze”, so to speak? This usually takes the form of ideas like referral strategies, events, or marketing campaigns. Occasionally though, this takes a more creative form.

One of these rejuvenated strategies is WealthPlan Group’s financial advisor-focused partnership around retirement plan management for companies and their employees.

In a recent episode of The Model FA, Wade Behlen was asked to explain this offer model and why it has become a go-to value-added resource for financial advisors across the country.

 

Changing the Conversation for Advisors Around Company Retirement Plans

There’s a segment from Wade’s interview that perfectly captures the discussion around company retirement planning. Wade knew an advisor in North Carolina who managed the individual assets for a local doctor. They had a strong relationship, and the doctor asked him a question. “Our group of doctors is putting our retirement plan out to bid. Can I put you forward?”

It sounded like a great opportunity to make new introductions, but he did not have the scale of operations that inspired confidence in their ability to cleanly manage their plan. When the advisor clarified that he would be introducing them to a back office that manages hundreds of plans, the doctor’s confidence was restored and the answer became a simple yes.

Effectively, having an experienced specialist team on call enabled him to get a profitable plan and the introductions he wanted as an advisor.

Unlocking the Opportunity Found in Company Retirement Plans

If we had to sum up this unique offer’s value prop, it would sound something like this.

We’ve turned the question “Can you help with our company’s retirement plan?” into a profitable, low-strain, low-risk “yes” for financial advisors.

The need for well run company retirement planning has always presented opportunity, both in financial compensation and trust-primed introductions. For most advisors though, it’s too complex of a specialization. Many advisors don’t stay up to date with the newest rules and regulations of the evolving company retirement plan environment. And in most cases, they don’t want to.

Advisors have long passed up the opportunities found in company retirement planning for reasons like:

• The compliance burden was too heavy
• The revenue-generating opportunities were uncertain
• It would distract their team from their primary operational focus

The result? A sense of missed opportunity when someone asks you, “Could you help my company take a look at our 401k plan?” With WealthPlan Group, we have reduced your liability risk by taking on the work of the fiduciary, allowing you to reap the relationships, the trust, and a revenue split without straining your resources.

A New Profitable Answer for Financial Advisors

WealthPlan Group developed a partnership to help advisors turn their “no” into a simple, profitable “yes”. As Wade Behlen outlined on his recent guest appearance on The Model FA Podcast, the key to this partnership’s success is in its structure.

Explore How the Plan Works

How the Partnership Works for Retirement Plan Management

The key issue keeping advisors from capitalizing on this question is in the amount of work and risk involved in managing a company’s retirement plan. This question is specifically focused around the fact that advisors are usually not retirement plan specialists.

As an advisor, you may be a strong relationship manager and a good educator, but it is a different commitment to take on the complex processes and fiduciary responsibilities of a company retirement plan.

That is why the design of WealthPlan Group’s partnership is designed to allow the advisor to reap the benefits of company retirement plans without taking on the burden of actually managing the plans.

Why the Partnership Works for Financial Advisors

This arrangement is designed to provide the advisor with a mechanism – a mechanism that enables advisors to say yes to found-money opportunities. While WPG specializes in the management and fiduciary side of the planning, advisors reap the benefits like:

• Gaining trust-primed introductions to company leadership and employees
• Becoming the primary relationship manager without the burden of operations
• Building your reputation as someone who can add value to your clients by introducing great resources
• A profitable revenue split with the WPG team for your role and introduction

Equipping You with Resources to Succeed

Another unique value of a partnership with WPG is the variety of industry-best resources you have access to as you provide value in your role as the relationship manager.

AutoEducate is a tool that helps plan participants understand their own risk tolerance as they become an investor saving for retirement. Administered at a company sponsor level, it provides access to personalized guidance for setting goals and having a timeline to achieve those goals. Critically, confidence for plan members increases as their blindspots decrease!

PEPtalk is a new resource within the AutoEducate process that helps to equip advisors to engage plan members. PEPtalk is operated on an individual level, gathering data on specific questions that plan participants have. Our team can use that data, manage the process through our salesforce CRM, and introduce the advisor to those participants who signed up for help.

Those participants not only asked for help, but they are also waiting for a call from an advisor!

Ready to Consider a Specialized Retirement Plan Partner?

Our work in company retirement planning is unique in its focus on partnering with financial advisors. It falls under our larger commitment and vision to helping advisors expand their revenue and grow their businesses.

With a trusted partner, you can turn a simple question into an opportunity to add value, make introductions, and create new revenue streams.

When you’re ready, partner with us.