The Fiduciary U™ Podcast

In this conversation, I interview Justin Tarantin, the CEO of Venrollment, a participant engagement platform for retirement plans. We discuss the challenges of in-person education, the birth of Venrollment, the impact of COVID-19, and the importance of branding and differentiation. We also explore how Venrollment enables advisors to target the small plan market and deliver value to plan sponsors. Justin shares his career arc and the vision for Venrollment's future, including expanding into health benefits. The conversation concludes with a discussion on integrating retirement and health benefits and the challenges that come with it. We discuss the challenges and pain points in the retirement space and the importance of understanding the advisor pain points. We also explore the complexity of implementing new tools and the advantage of newer solutions with less technical debt. The focus is on making the advisor's life easier and finding simple solutions to complex challenges. Delegating and outsourcing lower-value activities is emphasized, as well as empowering education specialists. The conversation highlights the importance of investing in technology and using it to educate employees. Listeners are encouraged to connect with Venrollment for more information.

Welcome to Part 2 of episode #47 of the Fiduciary UÔ Podcast.  

My guest today is Bill Chetney, Jr. from Viking Cove Institute.  Bill’s dad Bill Chetney Sr. arguably created the first aggregator with National Retirement Partners (NRP), eventually selling it to LPL, and ultimately created GRPAA.  Now it’s Bill Jr.’s turn to lead the organization forward and today he shares his vision for what that looks like.

On the show we cover a lot of ground around topics and the various ways Viking Cove Institue supports the independent advisor community through a combination of resources like training and educations, fintech solutions and partnerships, and favorable economics with product providers to create institutional scale that Viking Cove members can leverage to compete more effectively within the marketplace.

Welcome to Part 1 of episode #47 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.  

My guest today is Bill Chetney, Jr. from Viking Cove Institute.  Bill’s dad Bill Chetney Sr. arguably created the first aggregator with National Retirement Partners (NRP), eventually selling it to LPL, and ultimately created GRPAA.  Now it’s Bill Jr.’s turn to lead the organization forward and today he shares his vision for what that looks like.

On the show we cover a lot of ground around topics and the various ways Viking Cove Institue supports the independent advisor community through a combination of resources like training and educations, fintech solutions and partnerships, and favorable economics with product providers to create institutional scale that Viking Cove members can leverage to compete more effectively within the marketplace.

Welcome to Part 2 of episode #46 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.   

My guest today is Liz Davidson from Financial Finesse and this is her second time on the show.

On this episode, we discuss her new book, Money Strong: Your Guide to a Life Free of Financial Worries, her "START" framework which outlines a universal process that can be applied to anyone's financial life regardless of where they are, her writing process, why Financial Finesse focuses on "coaching" vs. "advice" to employees, their "Powered By" division which provides a combination of technology and coaching infrastructure to partners, how AI and mass personalization can help reach more people and drive transformational change, the behavioral and psychological aspects to financial stress, and much more.

Welcome to Part 1 of episode #46 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.   

My guest today is Liz Davidson from Financial Finesse and this is her second time on the show.

On this episode, we discuss her new book, Money Strong: Your Guide to a Life Free of Financial Worries, her "START" framework which outlines a universal process that can be applied to anyone's financial life regardless of where they are, her writing process, why Financial Finesse focuses on "coaching" vs. "advice" to employees, their "Powered By" division which provides a combination of technology and coaching infrastructure to partners, how AI and mass personalization can help reach more people and drive transformational change, the behavioral and psychological aspects to financial stress, and much more.

Welcome to Part 2 of episode #45 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.   

My guest today is Bonnie Treichel from Endeavour Retirement.  I’ve been a fan of Bonnie’s for some time and she is seemingly everyone these days sharing her thought leadership as well as her practice management tools and resources for advisors.  She’s one of the voices in the retirement industry that I greatly admire, and listeners will glean a lot of wisdom from this episode.

Bonnie has a unique background, as both an ERISA attorney and former advisors, and it shows in how she communicates her ideas philosophies, and methodologies.  

On the show we do a deep dive into hot fiduciary topics like ESG, guaranteed income, an implementation framework for SECURE 2.0, the benefit of developing what she calls a “partnership wheel, the highs and lows of the startup journey, and more.

Welcome to Part 1 of episode #45 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.   

My guest today is Bonnie Treichel from Endeavour Retirement.  I’ve been a fan of Bonnie’s for some time and she is seemingly everyone these days sharing her thought leadership as well as her practice management tools and resources for advisors.  She’s one of the voices in the retirement industry that I greatly admire, and listeners will glean a lot of wisdom from this episode.

Bonnie has a unique background, as both an ERISA attorney and former advisors, and it shows in how she communicates her ideas philosophies, and methodologies.  

On the show we do a deep dive into hot fiduciary topics like ESG, guaranteed income, an implementation framework for SECURE 2.0, the benefit of developing what she calls a “partnership wheel, the highs and lows of the startup journey, and more.

Welcome to Part 2 of episode #44 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.  

My guest on this episode is John Faustino, who is the Head of FI360. John has become a good friend and incredible mentor of mine as I have pivoted into the fintech world, and we had a great conversation where we covered a lot of ground. John has a 30+ year career in the fintech industry, first at Morningstar, then moving Fi360 as Chief Product & Strategy Officer, and continuing as the organizational leader after its acquisition by Broadridge.

On this episode, we discuss topics that range from how the technology landscape for advisors is evolving, the trend towards collaboration and partnership between fintech providers which is leading to a better experience for end users, the generational differences between advisors and how this impact technology adoption, how technology is empowering new solutions like guaranteed income and ESG, why the trend towards fiduciary practices and principles is going to accelerate and much more. Make sure to listen to Parts 1 & 2 with your favorite podcast app!

Welcome to Part 1 of episode #44 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.  I’ve broken this one into 2 parts so make sure to check both of them out. You won’t want to miss either one.

My guest on this episode is John Faustino, who is the Head of FI360. John has become a good friend and incredible mentor of mine as I have pivoted into the fintech world, and we had a great conversation where we covered a lot of ground. John has a 30+ year career in the fintech industry, first at Morningstar, then moving Fi360 as Chief Product & Strategy Officer, and continuing as the organizational leader after its acquisition by Broadridge.

On this episode, we discuss topics that range from how the technology landscape for advisors is evolving, the trend towards collaboration and partnership between fintech providers which is leading to a better experience for end users, the generational differences between advisors and how this impact technology adoption, how technology is empowering new solutions like guaranteed income and ESG, why the trend towards fiduciary practices and principles is going to accelerate and much more. Make sure to listen to Parts 1 & 2 with your favorite podcast app!

Welcome to Part 2 of episode #43 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast. My guest on this episode is Aaron Schumm, Founder & CEO of Vestwell.  This is Aaron’s second time on the podcast since first appearing in 2020 as my second guest on the show.  A lot has changed since then and Vestwell’s success has gone nuclear, making them a dominant force in the small plan recordkeeping market.  

On this episode, we discuss topics that range from developing systems and workflows that scale, service models that succeed, how Vestwell is empowering the next generation of retirement savers by making advisors and TPA more efficient, crypto, and more.  And so with that introduction I hope you enjoy this episode with Aaron Schumm. Make sure to listen to Parts 1 & 2 with your favorite podcast app!

Welcome to Part 1 of episode #43 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast. It’s been a few months since I released a podcast – the end of the year was pretty crazy launching a lot of new features and functionality in my FiduciaryRx platform which required a lot of my focus and attention.  But now I’m back and have some really exciting guests scheduled over the new couple of months.  Like my more recent episodes, I’ve broken this one into 2 parts and releasing both so make sure to check each of them out. You won’t want to miss either one. 

My guest on this episode is Aaron Schumm, Founder & CEO of Vestwell.  This is Aaron’s second time on the podcast since first appearing in 2020 as my second guest on the show.  A lot has changed since then and Vestwell’s success has gone nuclear, making them a dominant force in the small plan recordkeeping market.  

On this episode, we discuss topics that range from developing systems and workflows that scale, service models that succeed, how Vestwell is empowering the next generation of retirement savers by making advisors and TPA more efficient, crypto, and more.  And so with that introduction I hope you enjoy this episode with Aaron Schumm. Make sure to listen to Parts 1 & 2 with your favorite podcast app!

In Part 2 of episode #42 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast, Michael Doshier of T. Rowe Price and I continue our discussion on large market consulting and product trends.

Welcome to episode #42 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast.  Like last episode, I broke this one into 2 parts and I’m releasing both at the same time so make sure to check out both.  You won’t want to miss either one.  

My guest on this episode is Michael Doshier, who is a Senior Defined Contribution Advisor Strategist for T. Rowe Price where he is primarily responsible for driving the increased visibility of T Rowe Price’s investment brand, furthering the firm’s position as a thought leader in the retirement arena.  He’s been in the retirement industry for 30 years and previously held executive positions at Fidelity, MassMutual and Franklin Templeton Investments.

This is Michael’s second time on the podcast.  During his first appearance, he shared his insights from T. Rowe Price’s inaugural 2020 Defined Contribution Consultant Study.  On today’s episode, he’ll be sharing his insights from T. Rowe Price’s 2021 Defined Contribution Consultant Study which included survey responses from 32 consulting firms that work with over 33,000 plan sponsor clients and more than $7 trillion in assets under advisement. It also incorporated over 450 plan sponsors survey directly by T. Rowe Price and nearly 6,500 plan participants from T. Rowe Price recordkeeping clients. 

We discuss topics like price competition and margin compression faced by consultants and advisors, how the competitive lines are blurring between the two, how to improve firm profitability, which services and capabilities provide differentiation opportunities as well as plan sponsor and participant attitudes towards things like retirement decumulation, financial wellness, student debt, and HSAs, among other things.  And make sure to listen to the end of Part 2 where Michael shares his best piece of practice management advice for consultants and advisors.  And so, with that introduction, I hope you enjoy part 1 of this episode with Michael Dozier from T. Rowe Price.

In Part 2 of episode #41 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast, Chad Johansen of Plan Design Consultants and I continue our discussion on how advisors can win big in the small retirement plan market.

Welcome to episode #41 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast. I am going to try something a little different with this episode. I recently co-hosted Retireholics and a few people were giving me a hard time about how long the episodes are, even though they love the content. I conducted a poll on LinkedIn and 52% of people said they prefer breaking each episode into 2 parts. Not a huge majority but since this episode is a little longer than usual, I’m going to try it out and see what type of feedback I get. I am releasing Parts 1 and 2 at the same time so make sure to check out both episodes. You won’t want to miss either one. I can’t promise I stick with this format, but we’ll see how it goes. 

My guest on this episode is Chad Johansen who is a Partner & Director of Retirement Plan Sales at Plan Design Consultants, a very successful TPA that focuses on the micro and small retirement plan market. He’s also ¼ of the Retireholics and self-proclaimed 401(k) nerd. The moniker works because, along with being one of my best friends in the business, he’s also one of the smartest guys I know in the industry. He's successfully serves advisors and plan sponsors by combining a technical mind, a savvy sales approach and an unparalleled work ethic.

On the episode, we cover a lot of ground, discussing how advisors can win big by serving the small retirement plan market. We have a great conversation about which providers are doing a good job in that space. How small plan’s need a different level of service than large plans and how advisors can develop a skill set and service model that meets those needs in a profitable way. Chad also shares insights about how advisors can differentiate by focusing on tax efficient strategies and advantages for small businesses as well as the benefit of paying fees as a deductible business expense. We also cover topics like why fiduciary liability is oversold in small plans and why advisors should focus on helping plan sponsors avoid operational failures, winning analogies to explain complicated topics, and why advisors need to understand the value of their time and start looking at technology as an investment instead of as an expense to scale their business and drive operational efficiency. 

I always love geeking out with Chad and had a great time on this episode. I hope you enjoy Part 1.  Don't forget to check out Part 2!

Welcome to episode #40 of the Fiduciary U Podcast.  My guest on this episode is Andy Hudson, the Managing Partner of 401k Champions and a well-known coach, consultant, and sales strategy expert to top 401k advisors, typically generating $1m+ in annual revenue.  He started his consulting practice over a decade ago after more than a decade in the retirement industry at companies like John Hancock and Manulife.

On the episode, we have a great discussion about practice management for retirement plan advisors and how they can work on their business instead of just in the business.  We cover sales strategies like the importance of building a proprietary process to differentiate your practice, demonstrating deep expertise by diagnosing accurately so you can prescribe effectively, avoiding the urge to sell prospects on what services you offer instead of future outcomes you can achieve, and how to create a flexible narrative and messaging approach that can be applied to the unique needs of your prospects.  Finally, we also discuss Andy’s consulting philosophy which is built around 3 pillars: sales and lead generation, service model and growth map and how advisors can identify their biggest business driver so they can focus on that area.

My guest on this episode is the one and only Sheri Fitts. When it comes to financial services sales and marketing, Sheri is a gifted speaker, consultant, and creator and I always enjoy learning from her. One of the things I love about Sheri is her ENERGY. Her passion for connecting emotional intelligence and digital influence, what she calls Digital EQ, really comes through in this episode.

We focus a lot of our conversation on the human aspect of financial services and how we communicate with our clients and prospects. We chat about the power of storytelling, how and why advisors need to get super clear about their purposes and values, why vulnerability is a superpower but can’t be “hacked” for social media purposes, and why first impressions matter so much. Plus, much more.

My guest today is Ben Pitts from TIFIN Wealth.  Ben has a background as an advisor and is a Partner at TIFIN which is a venture backed fintech company that has raised nearly $200m and offers advisors a portfolio of solutions including a natural language investment research platform called Magnifi, a digital marketing platform called Clout, a risk assessment platform and a lightweight financial planning platform called TIFIN Plan.

We focus a lot of our conversation on the need for fintech that allows advisors to enhance the participant experience, how advisors can deliver personalized financial wellness and advice to participants in profitably and efficiently, how to bring financial planning to the main street, and how TIFIN Plan empowers these planning-focused conversations with participants rather than just investment-focused discussions.

On today’s episode the one and only Fred Reish joins me to discuss emerging regulatory trends affecting advisory firms and advisors. Fun fact - Fred is the first repeat guest on the show.

During our conversation, we focus much of our discussion on the new fiduciary advice exemption, PTE 2020-02 which became effective on February 16, 2021. The new prohibited transaction rules cast a wide net, impacting both qualified plans and IRAs and the compliance requirements are significant. Fred shares his concerns about the confusion he is seeing with regard to the effective compliance dates, the new and expanded requirements that both advisory firms and advisors must adhere here to, how the new rules create conflicts of interest when making rollover recommendations and what must be done to mitigate these issues, and how different types of firms are approaching education vs. specific advice on the different rollover options as well as how they are dealing with the new disclosure requirements. 

Towards the end of the show, we also discuss the recent (and controversial) sub-regulatory guidance by the DOL on cryptocurrencies, why this guidance was so much different and explicit than the norm, practical considerations for firms and advisors when advising on crypto for plan sponsors, and how the guidance on crypto and private equity are closely aligned.

Today we have the pleasure of welcoming two very exciting guests to the show. Jeanne Sutton and Jake Rushton both work for Strategic Retirement Partners (SRP), with Jeanne’s title being the Managing Director and Jake’s the Managing Director & Director of Retirement Plans. They are two of the biggest social media stars and brand builders in the retirement industry, and in this episode, we cover a wide variety of topics, including social media strategies and execution.

Listen in to learn why they both decided to get involved in social media marketing, their goals and objectives, and the audiences they’re trying to reach. You'll learn how to build a personal brand, where they get their ideas, and the tools they use to make their jobs easier. Social media is a strong tool for growing any business, so if you’re searching for a way to up-level your marketing, this is the episode for you.