ARA Executive Interview

The National Association of Plan Advisors is joined by Chris Weirath, Head of Client Success with Morningstar Retirement. We discuss what real support looks like for plan advisors at every step of the retirement journey. We’ll do it by defining support and what it really means, and of course, the role that personalization plays.  When plan advisors hear the word “support,” what do they usually pic...

Financial technology company IRALOGIX recently released its Retirement Readiness Index for 2025. The national benchmark found an Elevated Risk for the country, which, in practical terms, means Americans are engaged, but their retirement readiness is “fragile.” So, what does this mean, and, more importantly, what can be done about it? We’re joined by the firm’s CEO, Peter de Silva, to answer these...

Pete Welsh, Managing Director of Retirement and Wealth at Inspira Financial, joins American Retirement Association Chief Content Officer John Sullivan to discuss how plan advisors can help their clients develop a financial wellness program for their employees. Financial wellness is the ability to manage money and meet basic financial needs throughout life. But only about half of U.S. adults have a...

Today, we’re joined by Glenn Dial, Senior Retirement Strategist with American Century Investments. Dial explains some fascinating findings from “The Retirement Disconnect: What Sponsors Miss About Participant Priorities,” the firm’s 12th annual survey of retirement plan participants and sponsors, which can be found at americancentury.com. He covers retirement income, common misconceptions, and the...

Jessica Drake joins the Executive Interview to delve into plan participant attitudes, behaviors, and evolving expectations in a digital world. It comes as no surprise that our lives are increasingly linked to the digital realm — mobile phones now make up 63% of all web traffic worldwide, a figure that has more than doubled in the past decade, according to Statista. This digital reality has drastic...

What role have managed accounts (including advisor managed accounts) played in the participant shift in how they approach retirement planning? What’s driving increased interest in personalized retirement solutions? Are there any innovations within managed accounts that we can look forward to? We’re joined by Nathan Voris, Head of Go To Market with Morningstar, to answer these questions and more. D...

Jeff Acheson often speaks about retirement planning as an “elegantly integrated ecosystem,” of which life income is a key part. But what, specifically, is it and how can it help members of the American Retirement Association and its affiliate organizations? Acheson, CEO of Advanced Strategies Group and ARA Immediate Past-President, joins the Executive Interview to answer these questions, and more,...

One of the key challenges plan fiduciaries may encounter is terminating a retirement plan because of a merger or acquisition. What happens in this situation, why is it such a common issue, and how can advisors help? Pete Welsh, Managing Director of Retirement and Wealth at Inspira Financial, joins American Retirement Association Chief Content Officer John Sullivan to answer these questions and mor...

Matt Stubblefield from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America and Tina Wilson from Empower joins John Sullivan for this episode of the Executive Interview. Matt shares Allianz's latest research insights into participant attitudes and preferences surrounding this vital aspect of retirement planning. Tina provides firsthand experiences from implementing guaranteed lifetime income offer...

Why is portability so important for retirement plan participants? And how does it apply to in-plan guaranteed lifetime income solutions like annuities? We speak with Gordy Stead, Director of Institutional Sales at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America. He joins us to discuss the importance of portability in retirement savings as we explore the unique challenges and considerations when it...

John Hancock Retirement is out with its highly anticipated Financial Resilience and Longevity Report , now in its 10 th year. It contains good news for most retirement savers, but some generations lag. We’re excited to speak with CEO Wayne Park, whose team fielded the study, about what they found as well as trends they’re seeing when looking back at previous years. We also asked him the all-import...

Sponsored by: Inspira Financial Trust, LLC Financial wellness, automatic rollovers, and plan terminations are currently a trifecta of important topics to which advisors can add real value. In an increasingly commoditized retirement plan space, it’s a way for them to truly stand out in the services they provide to help their plan sponsor and participant clients. It’s an area of hyper-focus for Insp...

To tackle current workforce and organizational issues, it's essential to move beyond conventional approaches. Many employers are turning to Pooled Employer Plans (PEP) to solve the challenges of the traditional 401(k) structure. In fact, By 2030, over half of employer plan sponsors are expected to switch to a PEP. Aon’s Rick Jones joins us to discuss how we’ll get there. PEPs allow employers...

The role of personalization in retirement plans is an increasing industry focus as a way to potentially ensure successful outcomes. So, what is Morningstar Retirement’s view on the importance of personalization in the industry? We asked Morningstar’s Chris Weirath, Head of Business Development and Client Success, that very question, as well as how managed accounts fit in. It’s a fascinating discus...

The 2Q 2024 Quarterly Market Perceptions Study from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) was recently published. The study provides valuable insights into participant demand for in-plan guaranteed lifetime income solutions, such as annuities, highlighting key differences among generations and demographic groups. Ben Thomason, Head of Defined Contribution Distribution at Allian...

A lot is happening with Collective Investment Trusts (CIT). Morningstar recently reported that they’ve finally overtaken mutual funds as the most popular target-date vehicle, and bills are now in the House and Senate to allow them in 403(b)s. This means that firms like Great Gray Trust Company are well-positioned to take advantage of what’s ahead. The company has been around for quite some time bu...

The landscape of retirement planning is undergoing a significant transformation. New challenges have emerged, demanding a more extensive approach than traditional models focused solely on wealth accumulation. To tackle these issues, a closer examination of the risk landscape is necessary. This will pave the way for more holistic approaches to retirement income planning that prioritize risk managem...

What common services or actions make managing a retirement plan challenging for plan advisors and their clients? What are the main points plan advisors and plan sponsors should know about plan termination? How does auto portability benefit plan advisors, plan sponsors, and plan participants? Pete Welsh, Managing Director of Retirement and Wealth at Inspira Financial , joins the American Retirement...

What are the biggest challenges facing TPAs, RIAs and recordkeepers? And what will be most impactful from all that we’re seeing on the legislative and regulatory front? We turned to PenChecks’ President and CEO, Spiro Preovolos and Scott Okrasinski, the firm’s National Sales Director, to answer these important questions and more. They joined us to discuss PenChecks' transformation into a true...

Follow along with the Learning from the Success of Pension Risk Transfer .pdf. Click here to download. What did the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act’s passage in 2019 do for lifetime income in retirement plans, and what lessons can be learned from the success of pension risk transfer? We turned to Securian Financial to help answer these increasingly important ques...

The momentum around retirement income products has gained steam as participants are increasingly interested in adding a strategy for guaranteed lifetime income. With a wide range of features, fee structures, and implementation options, it can be difficult to know where to get started. Thankfully, we have Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America’s Michael De Feo to help explain. In this podc...

M&A expert Peter Campagna, Managing Partner at Wise Rhino Group, has a list of common emotions that advisors face when they decide to sell their business. “Fully 80% of M&A is managing emotions,” Campagna says. “The financial stuff is somewhat easy, but they’re selling their life’s work. They’re serial entrepreneurs who are going to become W-2 employees, and it’s a big mental shift.” He jo...

Interest in guaranteed lifetime income is growing, but plan participants want more than just a reliable monthly income stream. Flexibility, accessibility, and other personalized features are paramount to helping participants achieve outcomes aligned with their unique priorities. We sit down with Michael De Feo, Head of Defined Contribution Distribution at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North Am...

Fee compression and commoditization have hit every area of financial services--retirement advisors are no exception and it’s only slated to get worse. Why, and how is it addressed? Much more will have to be done with much less, but it will create resilience and will improve the firm’s enterprise value if and when the business is sold. We turned to M&A advisory firm Wise Rhino to tell us why. ...

As retirement plan advisors certainly know, the reduction of defined benefit pension plans and the rise of their defined contribution counterparts means more Americans are more responsible for their income in retirement.  While products and strategies exist to aid workers with accumulation and income, it’s a complicated challenge. Thank goodness Mike De Feo is here to help. De Feo, Head of Defined...