ARA Executive Interview The American Retirement Association

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 fintech solutions partner, its exponential growth and cultural transformation, and what it means for better retirement outcomes.
We also asked whether they’re optimistic or pessimistic about the prospects for meaningful retirement saving inroads in the near term.  Here's what they had to say. 

Sponsored By: PenChecks

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 questions. Kent Peterson, Vice President of Institutional Retirement Solutions, and Nick Volkmann, Actuarial Director and CFO, join us with a lot to say on the topics.

They also emphasize that in the wake of its 2022 blockbuster deal with The Standard, Securian Financial is still very focused on the retirement market, particularly pension risk transfer and capital preservation.

We begin with, and Kent answers, a (very) blunt question.

Sponsored by: Securian Financial.

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 podcast episode, we’ll walk through different product types and provide guidance on how to evaluate and determine the most suitable option, or options, available for a plan.

Sponsored By: Allianz

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 joins us to run through the 13 emotions that happen in four phases during the process: 
1 . Preparation 2. Marketing3. Due Diligence4. After the CloseAs always, it's a fun and interesting conversation you won't want to miss. 
Sponsored by: Wise Rhino Group

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 America (Allianz), to discuss how guaranteed lifetime income solutions, such as in-plan annuities, can help increase the likelihood of positive participant outcomes.

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. 

In yet another fun interview with the firm’s Dick Darian and Peter Campagna, we run through an informative top 10 list of the biggest 'things' that affect the value of your advisory business. 

Sponsored By: Wise Rhino Group