Teaming Up with a TPA: Building Success in Retirement Plans Business
Summary:
In this podcast episode of Confident Advisor Practice by Bill Bush and Pete Bush of the Horizon Advisor Network, they welcome their guest Melissa Terito, a partner and CPA at the accounting and business advisement firm Faulk & Winkler. Melissa handles their third party administrative practice (TPA) – branded as Sentinel Pension & Payroll. They have an enlightening discussion about the benefits of financial advisors and TPAs working together on behalf of their clients to add piece-of-mind and value to retirement plans.
Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:44 – Melissa Terito, CPA gives an introduction about her work at Faulk & Winkler.
- 02:01 – Melissa discusses how a TPA can work with a financial advisor with a 401k plan.
- 03:02 – What makes a good interaction between a financial advisor and a TPA according to Melissa is trust with their client.
- 04:42 – Melissa shares examples about a few positive experiences with advisors that understand the value of that teamwork.
- 07:04 – When Melissa started with Faulk & Winkler 9 years ago they had about 125 plans with a team of three and they have grown to six fulltime people and one intern.
- 08:54 – Some of the qualities that a financial advisor looking for a TPA should look for include: make sure they know what they are talking about and immediate response time,
- 10:09 – The average advisor has less than five plans – which means they aren’t using technical expertise on a regular basis like someone with a large case load.
- 10:51 – Advisors can get better with retirement plans by having plan documents in their office and being proactive by setting up meetings with the clients several times a year.
- 13:27 – Melissa deals with quite a few retirement plan opportunities outside of her local service area of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- 14:32 – The 316 administrative services is liability on the TPA for signing the 5500,making sure notices go out, approving all loans and distributions –everything the sponsor would be doing.
- 16:26 – Some broker dealers are not allowing their advisors to serve as a 321 or
- 18:05 – Clients are reassured when they see their financial advisor and TPA working as a team on their behalf and have a strong bond.
- 19:12 – The closing credits
3 Key Points:
- For the interaction between a financial advisor and a TPA to work they have to trust each other with the client.
- Qualities a financial advisor should look for in a TPA include: immediate response time and that they know what they are talking about.
- Advisors can improve with retirement plans by having plan documents in their office and setting up meetings with the client several times a year.
Tweetable Quotes:
- “When you think about what constitutes a retirement plan, there is the legal document, there’s accounting and administration, then there is the investment side of it., to invest the dollars that go into it.” – Pete Bush.
- “I’ve never gone to a meeting with an advisor and a current client, a potential client and not had something to bring to the table.” – Melissa Terito.
- “I think facetime with the client is important.” – Melissa Terito.
Resources Mentioned:
