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Retirement Planning > Retirement Investing

Retirement Plan Participants Need You — Now!

By Ric Lager

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I started my career in the investment advice business in 1984. I remember that it was a big deal back then to tell my prospects that I was a stockbroker.

My registered investment advisor firm opened in 1999. It was a big deal in those days to tell my prospects that I was an RIA.

The mystique and fascination with investment advice titles is long gone. We all now realize that it’s become increasingly more difficult to stand out with new individual investor prospects.

There is still one investment advisory niche that piques the interest of individual investors. The niche has probably been overlooked by your firm. Even independent investment advisors have not taken the time to develop a consistent client development strategy in this investment advice specialty.

I provide investment management advice to individual company 401(k) retirement plan participants. My investment advice helps them lower their annual expenses and improve the investment performance in their company 401(k) retirement plan account.

I don’t do plan-level investment advice business. I work with individual company 401(k) retirement plan participants. I don’t have any competition from other investment advisors with these individual investors. I have carved out the individual company 401(k) investment advice niche in my local market.

The company 401(k) retirement plan investment advice specialty has been completely ignored by large- and medium-size brokerage firms. The same investment advisors who will fight tooth-and-nail for a company 401(k) retirement plan rollover have no investment advice product or strategy for the existing company 401(k) retirement plan account.

As you have read and heard, robo-advisors have found the individual company 401(k) retirement plan participant investment advice niche. But they only seem interested in small accounts.

I made an appointment with a 63-year-old local company executive last month. I knew the company 401(k) retirement plan menu well, because I have multiple existing company 401(k) advice clients at the same company.

The prospect’s company 401(k) retirement plan account balance is around $1.8 million. As you can imagine, this prospect is scared to death to repeat the 2008-2009 stock market meltdown so close to his preferred retirement date.

The prospect did not know his company 401(k) retirement plan providers’ website login and password. The lower-level credenza drawer in his office contained several years’ worth of unopened quarterly company 401(k) retirement plan account statements.

Do you think this prospect is going to seek out a robo-advisor for company 401(k) advice? Maybe a better question to ask is: Where on earth is his current investment advisor?

This prospect was extremely interested in a logical and organized investment management strategy for the principal protection and growth of his largest retirement asset. He met with me based on my current investment advice work with other participants in his company 401(k) retirement plan.

Any experienced investment advisor reading this article should be able to help this company 401(k) retirement plan participant.

You probably don’t have any competition for investment advice prospects like this one in your local market. The first day you call an existing client and ask for a copy of his or her company 401(k) retirement plan account menu is the day that you are already the best company 401(k) retirement plan investment advice provider in your local market.

All you need to do is to analyze the default company 401(k) retirement plan menu of options. Then determine if there is a SDBA (self-directed brokerage account) option.

Find out how your current client or prospect is invested. Compare the annual costs of his or her current company 401(k) retirement plan account holdings to the other options available to them. The SDBA account can solve many of the company 401(k) retirement plan investment management problems.

The investment advice niche is there for you right now. Your existing clients have the need for this product. You have more individual company 401(k) retirement plan participant prospects within a 15 minute drive of your office than you could ever call.

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