Today Cetera Financial Group announced completion and rollout of the core of a new retirement plan solutions platform for financial advisors.
Brett Harrison, Executive Vice President for Advisor Growth at Cetera Financial Group and Chief Executive Officer of Cetera Advisors, said that the rollout was a statement that the organization was “well on its way to being an independently owned privately held business.”
The initiative includes:
- Rollout of Cetera’s Guided Retirement Solutions (GRS) web portal to all of its broker-dealers
- Continued development of retirement plan data aggregation and practice management technology through the company’s strategic partnership with Envestnet
- Network-wide launch of Cetera’s integrated ERISA plan consulting team and third party administrator (TPA)
- Hire of industry veterans Ruben Ramirez as Manager of its Retirement Practice Consulting team and George Barker as Retirement Plan Partner Relations Manager
While the Labor Department’s updated fiduciary rule is not yet published, it even takes that into account — at least as it can be contemplated now. Harrison said that the program’s fiduciary document contemplated what they thought might be a “worst case” scenario, in supporting advisors operating in a pure RIA, flat fee basis arrangement.
Advisor Dashboard
Jon Anderson, Director of Cetera Retirement Solutions, noted that the expansion of Cetera’s retirement plan solutions platform also includes further development of the company’s retirement plan data aggregation and practice management technology through its strategic partnership with Envestnet. Advisors will be able to “run their business through that portal,” Anderson explained, noting that advisors would no longer have to log in to various recordkeeping platforms to see what is going on across their practice. Perhaps just as significantly, Anderson explained that the firm could take advantage of “automated supervision,” rather than advisors being required to submit data. The dashboard also provides access to analytics capabilities including investment comparisons and benchmarking, as well as investment policy statement generation and a range of additional practice management features.
The GRS web portal is an online resource built to provide retirement plan-focused advisors with marketing materials, training, white papers and other tools to help them identify, win and service retirement plan clients. The portal walks advisors through five key aspects of the retirement plan services market; Advisor Education, Marketing, Prospecting, Closing Business, and Service and Retention.
Integrated TPA
The initiative also includes the rollout of Cetera Retirement Plan Specialists, an ERISA plan consulting firm and a dedicated TPA. Formerly known as First Allied Retirement Services and available only to First Allied advisors in the Cetera Financial Group network, the group is now integrated with Cetera advisors’ retirement services practices in order to help them address complex plan design and administration challenges, evaluate their existing TPA service providers and win new retirement plan business, Harrison explained.
Ultimately, Anderson noted, the goal of the initiative is to make it easy for advisors to win, retain and grow their business, with more than 40 individuals committed full-time to supporting it.
