ARA Executive Interview

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. Marketing
• 3. Due Diligence
• 4. After the Close

As 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

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 Contribution Distribution at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, says it’s finally time to get excited about in-plan retirement income products, and he joins the Executive Interview to discuss why. 

What’s happening with lifetime income products in retirement plans? It’s a loaded question and a major topic but thankfully, we have Brendan McCarthy here to help us sort it all out.

McCarthy, Head of Retirement Investing at Nuveen, is on the front lines of the retirement income battle. He joins us to discuss the challenges of the 401(k) generation, what it will take to get widespread retirement income adoption, and how something called longevity literacy can help.

Sponsored By Nuveen.

The Standard rocked the retirement plan recordkeeping world last October when it announced its acquisition of Securian Financial’s retirement plan recordkeeping business. Part of ongoing industry consolidation, it was major news for 401(k) advisors, sponsors and participants. How well is the integration going, what's next for the players, and how will it affect the retirement space overall? We sit with key insiders for answers.
 
Speakers: 

• A.J. Ijaz, Vice President, Asset Management Group, The Standard
• Theodore Schmelzle, Second Vice President, Retirement Plan Services, The Standard