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January 01, 2011 at 07:00 PM
Wells Fargo Advisors launched a new program for its financial advisors specializing in retirement plans with the aim of enhancing the support they extend to retirement-plan clients, the company said in late 2010.
The Retirement Plan Advisor Program, or RPAP, will “ensure we have the right service models in place for advisors and their clients,” said Kenneth Pardue, senior vice president and director of retirement-plan consulting at WFA, which includes 15,000 financial advisors.
“Also, with some of the best advisors in the business, we want them to be well supported and engaged with the home office so they can maintain their position in the marketplace,” explained Pardue, in a phone interview on Monday.
The Wells Fargo Advisors retirement-plan program now includes some 250 advisors. To participate in it, financial advisors must have more than 10 qualified retirement plans, more than $40 million in assets under management in these plans and industry-recognized designations, such as CIMA, CFP, CPA, CEBS, CRPS, CRPC or CFA.
The 200-plus advisors in the program generally have more than half of their AUM in qualified retirement plans, Pardue says.
The program includes tools and resources, a schedule of conference calls, and national and regional meetings to help advisors address recent legislative and regulatory changes in the retirement-plan market, such as fee disclosures and fiduciary responsibilities.
“The main thing we are emphasizing is the need to build a product around a good service model that includes investment monitoring, education, vendor search and benchmarking for our plans,” said Pardue. “We want to make sure that each advisor has a clear service model for the client and that it is fee transparent.”
