Cetera Offers 401(k) Advice via Fee-for-Service Model
The service will bundle 401(k), financial and consulting advice in a single payment.
Clients of Cetera advisors now will have access to 401(k) participant advice through its new fee-for-service payment model, the IBD/RIA announced today. The service will bundle 401(k), financial and consulting advice in a single payment.
In hopes of appealing to Generations X and Y, the new model provides a one-time or subscription-based payment, which Cetera believes will allow advisors to grow their client base. It also will leverage the AdvicePay technology platform for electronic payment processing and subscriptions.
“Clients seek help with every aspect of their financial lives — everything from whether they should max out their annual 401(k) contribution for the year or use those funds for a down payment on a house instead,” according to Jon Anderson, Cetera’s head of Retirement Plan Solutions. “Now with advice to an individual’s 401(k) account as part of fee-for-service, advisors can navigate those conversations, and bill for that service. ”
Directing resources to younger generations is key to the firm as it added more than 1,000 registered representatives with $19.1 billion in assets under administration this year, including about 400 advisors added through its purchase of Foresters Financial, and many of whom are younger advisors.
According to Cetera President Adam Antoniades, “a good percentage” of the 1,000 are tax professionals, affiliates of financial institutions like banks and newly trained advisors. “Next gen is a very big focus of our organization and a necessary one,” he told ThinkAdvisor, as are other “new entrants” into the financial advice profession.
The Cetera group of independent broker-dealers includes Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions/Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists and First Allied Securities.
— Related on ThinkAdvisor: