The Successful Retirement Plan Advisor, Pt. 3: Profile in Success— Jason Chepenik

This is the third in a five-part series defining success for retirement plan advisors by Liz Davidson, who as president of Financial Finesse has a unique vision of who the most successful retirement plan advisors are, and what they have in common.–Ed.

In my first article in this series for AdvisorOne, I talked about the three most common traits I’ve seen in highly successful retirement plan advisors.  One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from advisors over the years is that the most critical and most difficult thing to do in this industry is to stand out. I hear this sentiment reinforced by many of the Fortune 500 plan sponsors we work with—they often share with me the qualities they look for in plan advisors or in some cases, what it is that stood out to them in the advisor they’re already working with.

Time and time again, what I find is that the advisors who win business share two key traits. One, they take a consultative approach with their clients, seeing them as partners and customizing their services every step of the way to match the needs of their specific culture, plan goals and overall vision. Two, they are experts, specializing in one niche rather than spreading themselves across the board. Among the universe of retirement plan advisors, the most successful understand the full ins and outs of ERISA law and their clients’ benefits so that they’re able to bring more to the table than just plan management or even plan design—they can deliver guidance around the full spectrum of retirement plan issues.

I’ve been fortunate to know many advisors who take this approach to their client relationships, honing in deeply on their specific needs and customizing every outcome based on solutions that work best for their situations. But I’ve also seen many firms crumble because they missed opportunities by following the status quo too closely. That is, rather than looking at every client as a blank slate, they follow a standard set of procedures to determine and design plans that usually end up being inefficient and far less successful than if they had spent more time upfront on crafting a custom plan and program that fits the clients’ specifics.  Today, the advisors who are thriving are doing so because they’ve built a reputation on how they approach working with clients. They are the advisors who are being recommended at conferences and trade shows from executive to executive and they’re the advisors who are winning more deals because they “get” plan sponsors’ needs.

Jason Chepenik (left) is one such advisor who is separating himself in the market to the point that he’s become a highly sought -after name with mid- to large-size plan sponsors. He has turned his father’s practice into one of the most recognized retirement plan advisory firms in the country today, managing approximately $900 million in assets and servicing over 70 mid market plan sponsor clients.  

What Jason has been able to accomplish is quite significant in an industry that’s growing even more crowded. He has fully immersed himself in the industry, taking on multiple speaking engagements per year, networking with peers and other professionals in complimentary industries and advocating for industry standards. He’s been invited to speak before the ERISA Advisory Council to the DOL on issues related to the spend down of defined contribution assets upon retirement. He’s been named a Top 10 Advisor for the large market, Top Advisor for the middle market by 401kwire in 2010, and an Institutional Investor Rising Star among retirement advisors in 2009, along with many more industry awards. So what’s Jason’s secret to success and how can other advisors use it to differentiate themselves in an industry that’s growing crowded and even more competitive? 

Jason’s main key to success is how he approaches his business. He is passionate and works tirelessly to find the root problem to his clients’ retirement issues so that he develops a strong loyalty and trust from clients and, as a result, sets the stage for future business referrals.

Here are the two key components to a client-centric frame of thinking that can help advisors get more business from plan sponsors:

• Understand and work to achieve clients’ end goal.
  We talk to plan sponsors every day about their most important vendor relationships, and while they each have a different story, the theme is invariably the same:  Over and over, they articulate the need for a true partner—someone who can immerse themselves in their world and, in the words of the iconic Apple advertising, “Think different.”  Most plan sponsors tell us (and research bears this out) that they are getting more sales pitches than ever, and the vast majority feel like subtle variations of the same thing. Ironically, they want the exact opposite: In our experience, most plan sponsors are hungry to work with advisors who stand out from the crowd by bringing a whole new perspective. Most plan sponsors are surprisingly willing to commit when they have a transformational meeting with an advisor who is able to help them in a way that no one ever has before. 

Jason has always understood this and has built his business approaching each engagement as a blank sheet of paper, diving into the clients’ needs and then partnering with them to brainstorm out-of-the-box concepts that other advisors shy away from, to thoroughly evaluate all alternatives, and to come up with the solution that is just right for that client.