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:

1. For the interaction between a financial advisor and a TPA to work they have to trust each other with the client.

1. Qualities a financial advisor should look for in a TPA include: immediate response time and that they know what they are talking about.
2. 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:

• Horizon Financial Group – website for Horizon Financial Group
• Confident Advisor Practice – podcast for Confident Advisor Practice
• Faulk & Winkler – Melissa Terito's Faulk & Winkler profile page
• LinkedIn – Melissa Terito's LinkedIn profile page
• Sentinel Pension & Payroll – Faulk & Winkler's pension service