The end of the nomination period for the 2014 NAPA Leadership Award is right around the corner — Nov. 15. The winner of the prestigious award will be announced at the 2014 NAPA 401(k) Summit in New Orleans in March.
Nominees may include any individual or team (i.e., a group of individuals) active as financial advisors to 401(k) plans. Nominees must be SEC registered investment advisors and/or FINRA registered representatives who are primarily in the business of providing investment advisory and other services directly to retirement plan sponsors and/or participants. NAPA and/or ASPPA membership is not a requirement or a consideration in the judging process.
New, Simplified Nomination Process; Emphasis on Impact and Innovation
This year, the process has been streamlined to make it easier for both nominators and nominees. The extensive questionnaire providing details of a nominee’s practice is no longer part of the initial application. Instead, nominators may nominate a candidate by simply providing some basic contact information and submitting a description of 250 words or less of how the nominee has made an impact or been an innovator in the industry or for their clients.
The impact or innovation can be a career achievement or even something unique and specific to just one client. The intent is to recognize and promote excellence in our industry — regardless of experience or volume. Suggested areas of focus include, but are not limited to: advocacy, employee communications, retirement readiness, fiduciary governance, investment strategies, etc.
Once the initial nomination window closes Nov. 15, a task force will review all submissions and choose 10 semi-finalists. The semi-finalists will be notified and asked to provide additional information about themselves and their practices, along with more detail on the impact or innovation described in the initial submission. Three finalists will then be chosen to go through an interview process with the judging committee, culminating in the announcement of the Award winner live at the 2014 NAPA 401(k) Summit.
We are particularly excited about the emphasis on impact and innovation and the promotion of the excellence that we all know exists in our industry. We believe that identifying and highlighting the positive things that our industry can and has accomplished can only help us in our advocacy efforts in Washington D.C. Compelling examples of innovation and impact will be profiled on NAPA Net as well.
So please click here to start the process by nominating yourself, your team or someone else. We look forward to seeing you at the Summit in New Orleans!
Steven (Steve) Dimitriou, AIF, AAMS, PRP, is NAPA's Incoming President. He is the managing partner at Mayflower Advisors, LLC in Boston.
