401(k) Specialist Podcast

Allianz Life’s Joe Hendrickson and AmericanTCS’ Brian Lenz Discuss Market Momentum

In-plan guaranteed lifetime income solutions, such as annuities, have received plenty of attention in the wake of the SECURE Act of 2019 and 2022’s SECURE 2.0 legislation, which made it significantly easier to add these types of solutions into 401(k) plans.

Here to talk about how these solutions are being adapted for defined contribution plans – and how they are being presented in the real world to 401(k) participants – we have Joe Hendrickson, Vice President of Strategy & Relationship Management at Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) and Brian Lenz, Chief Sales Officer at AmericanTCS, an early adopter bringing lifetime income options to plans sponsors and participants.

The discussion includes how the market is changing, how the solutions are being implemented at the plan-level, the challenges being faced in bringing these solutions to participants, and how to help them understand the products and the 5-year outlook for lifetime income solution adoption in the employer-sponsored retirement plan market.

Fred Reish’s DOL Fiduciary Rule Update

The retirement industry will be keeping a close eye on the Department of Labor in August in anticipation of proposed regulation regarding its fiduciary rule, and whether or not a retirement plan-to-IRA rollover recommendation made by an advisor who is a fiduciary to a plan or participant constitutes a fiduciary act, necessitating the use of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02.

To help us sort out what’s going on with the DOL’s fiduciary rule, we can think of no better source than noted ERISA expert and Faegre Drinker Partner Fred Reish.

In this edition of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast, Reish provides an overview of the issue, what approach he thinks the DOL may take, provides a timeline for the regulation and some key thoughts on what this all means for retirement plan advisors.

We were curious to learn more about what 401(k)-focused advisors are doing with their 401(k) marketing efforts these days, and what kind of investments in time and resources they are making in efforts to grow their business.

For answers, we checked in with Rebecca Hourihan, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer with San Diego-based 401(k) Marketing, a full-service marketing agency for retirement plan professionals. A familiar face on the retirement industry conference speaking circuit, Rebecca works with a wide range of top retirement plan professionals, providing help with customized marketing materials, campaigns, websites, and expert content collateral.

In today’s podcast she talks about the use of content marketing, effectively reaching different generations, advisor use of artificial intelligence, and what kind of investment most retirement advisors are making in their marketing efforts.

Exploring the Mid-Cap Market with Invesco’s Justin Livengood

Our guest today makes the argument for why mid-caps as an asset class belong in a properly diversified defined contribution plan investment menu, and explains why most 401(k) participants are probably not aware of just how overly exposed they are right now to just a handful of the biggest companies.

Here to explain it all is Invesco’s Justin Livengood, CFA, who is the Senior Portfolio Manager for Invesco’s mid-cap growth and health care strategies, and Senior Research Analyst for the Discovery and Capital Appreciation strategies, where he covers the health care, financial services and real estate sectors.

He covers why mid-caps are an incrementally good way to help retirement plan participants achieve an optimal level of diversification, why active management is preferable to passive in mid-caps, and provides a high-level view of what’s happening in the macro environment right now as well as the near-term outlook.

The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence and Chat GPT specifically has raised a bunch of fresh questions about the role it will play in financial advice, and how it will impact the work and role of financial advisors moving forward.

High-profile advisor Michael Kitces—the “Chief Financial Planning Nerd” at Kitces.com, Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners, Co-Founder of the XY Planning Network and face of the popular “Nerd’s Eye View” financial planning blog—has an interesting perspective on the topic of AI in financial planning and shares it with us on this episode of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast.

Kitces recently posted a blog titled, “Why Chat GPT is No Threat to Real Advisors,” and here he expands on thoughts behind why advisors should not fear artificial intelligence, but embrace it for how it can save time and create efficiencies.

Why Financial Advisors Need Personal Branding: Sheri Fitts

Anyone who attends a retirement industry event knows there’s a pretty good chance Sheri Fitts is speaking at it. Today we’ve got the well-known branding consultant and founder of Sheri Fitts & Co. with us to talk about the need for and importance of personal branding among 401(k)-focused financial advisors.

Sheri also tells us about an all-new industry branding and marketing event she is launching this August in San Diego called “SWAY| LIVE,” along with why such a focused event is needed in the retirement industry. 

Why Advisors Need to Consider Value Equities in DC Plan Investment Menus Now: Invesco’s Kevin Holt

After underperforming growth for years, value equities finally had their time in the sun in 2022. While both value and growth stocks declined last year, growth stocks fell much further than value thanks in large part to rising interest rates.

In this edition of the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast, Invesco’s Kevin C. Holt, CFA, who is the CIO, U.S. Value Disciplines and Co-Lead Portfolio Manager of the Invesco Comstock Fund, helps advisors understand why they need to be looking at including value equities in a DC plan investment menu these days, and how value can help tackle the problem of far too many 401(k) participants being poorly diversified with their plan investments.

He also shares his expectations for value moving forward with respect to inflation; how the COVID downturn and the recent bump in the road with regional banks are affecting value equities, and provides a closer look at the energy, technology and healthcare sectors.

EIG’s John Lettieri Refutes ARA Claims of Proposed Bill’s Challenge to Private Retirement Plan System

When American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff told attendees at the recent NAPA 401(k) Summit in San Diego that a new bill expected in Congress soon could mark the beginning of a “year’s long battle” over the future of America’s retirement system, the charged rhetoric didn’t sit too well with people behind the proposal.

The ARA leader likened the “Retirement Savings for Americans Act” to a giant multiple employer plan run by the government, and warned that if it were to pass, it would amount to unfair competition and would upend the entire private retirement plan system.

The legislation, expected to be reintroduced in Congress within weeks by a bipartisan working group of legislators, is largely based on a proposal made in a 2021 white paper from the Economic Innovation Group that seeks to address the retirement plan coverage gap faced by low- and moderate-income Americans.

EIG has made it known it doesn’t agree with ARA’s stance that the proposal and the legislation based on it would threaten the future of the private retirement plan system, and we wanted to hear why they think the concern stems from a “fundamental disconnect.”

To that end, our podcast guest is Economic Innovation Group CEO John Lettieri, who explains why he thinks the new plan would indeed NOT compete with the existing private retirement plan system and why the lower-income retirement plan coverage gap needs to be addressed now.

Talking Guaranteed Lifetime Income Solutions with Allianz Life’s Michael De Feo

Guaranteed lifetime income in retirement plans is a hot topic these days, with study after study revealing that Americans want to know more about it and view these products as a good fit to help them reach their financial objectives.

While 401(k) plan sponsors are showing increasing interest in adding guaranteed income products to their benefit programs, there’s still a lot of confusion surrounding what they are and how they work among retirement plan advisors and plan sponsors alike.

To help us sort it all out and understand what’s happening in this growing market, we are joined by Michael De Feo, Head of Defined Contribution Distribution at Minneapolis-based Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, which has recently expanded into the defined contribution market as more Americans say they want guaranteed income options in their employer-sponsored plan.

De Feo shares his insights about how the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 has spurred innovation in guaranteed lifetime income product design, the barriers to widespread adoption these products still face, and a shift toward more personalization through managed accounts and hybrid plan design.

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1 Institutional retirement reference guide, LIMRA, 2022.

2 U.S. Defined Contribution Distribution 2022, Cerulli & Associates, 2022.

This content is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide fiduciary, tax, or legal advice and cannot be used to avoid tax penalties; nor is it intended to market, promote, or recommend any tax plan or arrangement. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, its affiliates, and their employees and representatives do not give legal or tax advice or advice related to Medicare or Social Security benefits. You are encouraged to consult with your own legal, tax, and financial professionals for specific advice or product recommendations, or to go to your local Social Security Administration office regarding your particular situation.

Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

• Not FDIC insured • May lose value • No bank or credit union guarantee • Not a deposit • Not insured by any federal government agency or NCUA/NCUSIF

Products are issued by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, 5701 Golden Hills Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55416-1297. (C64712-MVA)

Product and feature availability may vary by state and broker/dealer.

5 Big Issues with Small 401(k) Plans: Rebalance’s David Ranney

Small-business 401(k) plans face a lot of specific issues and challenges that don’t necessarily impact larger retirement plans.

This week we’re focusing squarely on some hot-button issues specifically related to small 401(k) plans, and to help us do that we’re joined by an expert in the field, David Ranney, who joined the team at small-biz 401(k) specialist Rebalance a few months back after spending more than two decades at Fidelity Investments. There he led the workplace investing team in a variety of managerial roles, including Vice President of Sales.

A VP of Sales at Rebalance, which features the proprietary small-biz 401(k) offering, “better K,” David helps small business owners learn how to detect and avoid high fees, how to optimize asset allocation, increase plan participation and take advantage of retirement planning resources.

In today’s podcast, he shares insights about the five major issues he’s identified with small 401(k)s and why it’s important to face them head-on.