NAPA has launched the NAPA Research Institute (NRI), naming Warren Cormier as its Executive Director. Cormier is also President and Founder of the Boston Research Group and Co-Founder of the BeFi Forum (now part of the Rand Institute) with Prof. Shlomo Benartzi.
Though the DC industry generates a lot of good research, NAPA believes that the industry needs unbiased, quantitative and qualitative research focused on the advisor-sold, employer-sponsored retirement market. The Institute’s first initiatives will include a quarterly sales report by plan advisors and broker dealers to help the DC industry compare sales results and plan for the future. The report will be made available to NAPA members and Firm Partners at no cost.
Other initiatives will include wholesaler compensation and productivity studies, advisor fees and services reports, and timely studies on important issues as they arise. Additionally, NAPA Firm Partners will be able to access NRI to conduct new product analyses to ensure that their new services will be well received by the experienced plan advisors who make up NAPA’s membership (nearly 6,000 advisors and growing).
Bridging the gap between academia and the retirement industry as he did with BeFi, Cormier will work closely with the industry to make sure that when NRI cover issues that are critical to our industry, the right questions are being asked and the results are based on unbiased, scientific, academically validated methodologies. NRI is just one of many future initiatives to fulfill NAPA’s mission: to further enhance the nation’s retirement security using high-quality, professional plan advisors through advocacy, business intelligence and networking.
