Today is the first anniversary of NAPA Net and the Daily. We’ve been overwhelmed by the response, not just in terms of the number of people opening the Daily (~25,000/week) and visiting the site (~22,000/month) but also the many comments we’ve received in person and online. Frankly, we’re surprised that there are so many people interested enough in employer-sponsored retirement plans that they will read a daily newsletter or visit a dedicated website.
Beyond numbers, the types of the people reading the Daily include not only the most sophisticated advisors and industry professionals but also Washington policymakers. The success of NAPA Net specifically and NAPA in general highlights the success of the advisor-sold DC retirement market, providing a voice and a personality to the only group of people who can take retirement to the next level — that is, significant income replacement from DC plans by employees. I say “employees” specifically because we cannot just focus on plan participants — we need to expand coverage.
New frontiers for NAPA Net and NAPA include the launch of our magazine this month, which will be mailed to 10,000 people and available online. NAPA’s Partner Corner, which launched last month, is the first step in highlighting valuable industry resources created by NAPA’s provider partners in one place rather than forcing advisors to go from one site to another. And look for the NAPA Research Institute to start bringing fact-based, academically oriented research to the market soon. Our first project, set to launch in December, will report on sales trends from plan advisors and broker dealers.
One of the core missions of NAPA Net is to serve members and Firm Partners. While NAPA membership has swelled to 6,700 members in just two years — with 5,600 advisors and more than 100 Firm Partners, including most of the major broker dealers focused on the DC market — we feel that we have just begun.
As the person credited with making the term “blind squirrel” popular in our industry, you might think I don’t like them. But new advisors are the lifeblood of our industry and the key to helping employees be more successful in retirement. To think that the current group of elite plan advisors will be able to accomplish that ambitious goal on their own is self-centered and foolish. The industry should train and welcome advisors who want to learn about DC plans and focus their practices around retirement and encourage “dabblers” to refer plans to more experienced practitioners. Along with serving the elite plan advisors, NAPA and NAPA Net will continue to welcome, encourage and help advisors new to the industry.
We need your help! If you have ideas for stories, or come across interesting articles or issues that you want to write about, contact me. We know your Compliance folks may not allow you to be as vociferous as you might like, so just commenting on posts, sending me ideas or links to interesting articles or new products and services would be great. (My email is [email protected].) When we conduct surveys through the NAPA Research Institute, please respond — we’re trying to provide information about the industry that can help you reach your goals.
And lastly, let us know what we can do to help your business and practice — since NAPA is a not for-profit organization, we can and will do things that consultants and media companies can’t do. All ideas are welcome. Thanks for your support — and keep reading.
