Jania Stout Forms Independent National DC Practice

Top DC plan advisor Jania Stout recently announced that she is leaving PSA to form her own national firm, Fiduciary Plan Advisors. Her business has grown beyond the Baltimore area and she is looking to partner with other plan advisors. 

At PSA, Stout built a large mid-market DC advisory practice that grew to $2.7 billion and 65 clients in just over six years. Rather than being able to leverage PSA’s clients, which tended to be smaller than her normal client profile, Stout grew her DC practice separately, sharing just three clients with PSA. Winner of the 2013 NAPA Leadership Award and a member of the NAPA Leadership Council, Stout entered the DC advisor market after selling plans directly in the mid-market for Fidelity. 

After reviewing a number of BDs and DC teams, Stout selected Hightower Advisors, a high-flying independent firm based in Chicago that has attracted a lot of attention and capital. Though Hightower is just building out their DC support services, Stout says she found that attractive, since she will have input on the design and because Hightower seemed committed to allocating the necessary resources and people to support her practice.

Stout says she has already received numerous inquiries from other advisors looking to partner with her — a dynamic that she would not been able to leverage at PSA. Though the so-called “4 Corners” practice — retirement, wealth management, benefits and P&C — is touted as nirvana for advisors and their clients, PSA’s structure meant that Stout was not able to bring the full scope of services that PSA offered to her clients.