ERISA attorney David N. Levine is often asked by his plan sponsor clients to provide advice on topics you might not expect — including plan advisors.
In his most recent column in NAPA Net the Magazine, Levine shares some of the questions he gets from plan sponsors about advisors, including:
- Does it make a difference which advisor I use?
- Why does my advisor charge me more than other advisors who have been contacting me?
- Why is my advisor suggesting/offering all these extra services?
While these may seem like common sense questions with common sense answers, Levine notes, it’s easy to forget their importance. “As service providers of all stripes, we live in a world of convergence of services where record keepers, TPAs, accountants, advisors and lawyers are providing services that can be complementary and competitive at the same time," Levine notes. "As our industry comes closer and closer to saturation, competition is bound to increase.” Furthermore, he says, “In the modern world of fee disclosure, it is easy to simply look at bottom line cost to make a decision. And the proposed conflict of interest rule may further accelerate the focus on bottom line costs.”
Levine’s takeaway for advisors? “The services advisors provide may evolve — those fancy scorecards of the late 90s and early 2000s are commonplace now — but relationships with plan sponsors remain key,” he says. “Explain why you are a strong business partner and what you bring to the table in terms of value because, in the end, when the questions are asked behind closed doors, it seems that this communication and support, no matter the change in products or technology, is what so often matters most.”
In addition to Levine’s regular “Inside the Law” column, the Fall 2015 issue of NAPA Net the Magazine inaugurates NAPA’s lists of the top women advisors in the industry in four separate categories. Judy Ward also discusses the potential pitfalls of managed accounts, while Nevin Adams debuts his new “Polling Places” column highlighting some readers who shared their experiences with the client firing process. The issue also features insights from contributors Jerry Bramlett, Warren Cormier, Steff Chalk, Brian Graff, Don Trone, Joseph DeNoyior, Jania Stout and Fred Barstein, along with the debut of columnist Lisa Greenwald Schneider.
To view Levine’s column, click here and select “What Do Plan Sponsors Ask About Advisors?” And to view a pdf of the full 52-page issue, click here.
