RAC Releases an Advisor RFP for Plan Sponsors — Providing a Great Prospecting Tool

RFPs are commonly used by record keepers but less so by plan sponsors searching for a new advisor. Selecting the right advisor is more important than the selection of a record keeper or even the funds in the plan but, until now, there was no industry sponsored template for plan sponsors to use. The Retirement Advisor Council (RAC), led by industry market research professional Eric Henon and a group of industry experts including advisors, providers and broker dealers, has made an RFP template and protocol available. Why would an advisor want plan sponsor clients or prospects to go through an RFP process? Because the more educated the client or prospect is, the better an experienced advisor will appear. For example, RAC’s RFP template lists a fairly comprehensive litany of advisory services which less experienced advisors will be hard pressed to match. This makes the template a wonderful prospecting tool. Think of the health care industry: Record keepers are the hospitals, investment managers are the pharmaceuticals, advisors are the doctors, and plan sponsors are the patients. And we all know that a patient who makes an informed decision about his physician is more likely to be healthy. The template is here.