At the largest ever and oversubscribed RPA Broker/Dealer Roundtable hosted by Broadridge at their NYC offices on Sept. 3-4 before the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards, with senior leaders of the retirement divisions at the most influential broker/dealers (see list of BDs and sponsors below), the high-energy, mostly on-the-record discussion focused on two major themes:
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Convergence of wealth and retirement at the workplace
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An explosion of new plan formation estimated to be over 200,000 in the next five years
Everything else seemed to be a footnote as these two topics opened discussion about countless issues. It was exciting to hear how the retirement divisions at b/ds continue to get more resources and attention, which started in 2023 because of conversion and new plan explosion, with Raymond James’ John Carelli noting that their new chief executive and chief strategy officers see the opportunities.
That the RPA Roundtable series, which now includes TPAs, record keepers and aggregators and will convene all four groups plus sponsors in a fifth roundtable at the end of 2026, focused on convergence, is unique. The open agenda allows the discussion to focus on the quintessential issues b/ds face with leading service providers. Each topic creates a virtual panel based on who is most interested and knowledgeable, which shifts dynamically as the topics change.
Like with the record keeper roundtable and others in the future, DCIIA’s RRC Emeritus Executive Director Warren Cormier, the long-tenured leading industry market research professional, conducts pre-program interviews, collating constituents’ biggest opportunities and challenges.
To be covered more extensively in a separate column by Cormier, the issues b/ds said they face include:
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Leveraging wealth opportunities within DC plans, potentially competing with providers, which would kill incentives for wealth advisors to enter
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How to activate, educate and serve wealth advisors
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An increasing surge of plan sponsor paternalism is looking to engage all workers and provide advice, opening opportunities for advisors’ wealth ambitions
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Concern that technology is constraining innovation
The discussion started with Northwest Mutual’s Adam Younk asking what success looks like. Lew Minsky from DCIIA quipped it’s about providers and advisors leveraging convergence, which Broadridge’s Shawn O’Brien disagreed with, offering that it should be about the client’s best interests.
One b/d believes that the workplace is a way to replace aging HNW clients, who are currently averaging 60+ years old. The group also wondered how to replace aging advisors. That group is pairing RPAs with wealth counterparts beyond geography, using AI to match participants with wealth advisors.
Shawn Daly at MassMutual, where many advisors work with small business owners, said those that offer DC solutions triple their revenue. And while advisor-managed accounts also add to revenue, PRI’s Jason Roberts noted they also increase engagement providing more data for other opportunities.
Daly stated that eight months ago, 10 of his top record-keeping partners, which represent 80% of their business, started offering participant data, which created new issues: how to integrate, protect and timely distribute to advisors. Mat Powers from Commonwealth said they are getting a better response as well, while Osaic’s Brian Brashaw wondered about the legal issues and who needs to give permission to use the data.
Candice D’Andrea from Raymond James concurred, wondering how it can be used while another b/d imposes strict guidelines on using participant data, limiting access and not allowing advisors to download data to avoid cyber issues. That same b/d uses data only to engage and educate, not sell, which can lead to sales.
WealthManagement.com’s Alex Ortolani asked why record keepers cannot distribute leads like custodians do to RIAs, with Broadridge’s John Faustino stating that everything needs to be viewed through a fiduciary lens in ERISA plans.
There was healthy skepticism about private market investments in 401(k) plans, but the issues around retirement income centered around why adoption is so slow. With annuity sales booming, Daly said in-plan solutions do not properly compensate advisors, with Bidmoni’s Stphen Daigle noting advisors make 5% to 7% commissions on annuities outside the plan. Raymond James’ Carelli said the reason is that annuities are sold one-on-one with advisors selecting the right ones for clients and explaining how they work, something they cannot do within DC plans.
State Street Investment Management’s Brian Lewis said most participants do not have enough money in their accounts to warrant retirement income, while Scott Smith from Hightower Advisors opined that, just like with long-term healthcare, those who can afford retirement income probably do not need it.
Morningstar’s Jim Smith announced that advisor-managed accounts were growing quickly, fostering engagement as a scalable way to provide advice and a good way to uncover outside assets.
This led to a discussion about Pontera, which Smith said is enjoying phenomenal growth at Hightower, yielding much more revenue than new plan sales, noting that the Fidelity ban is likely because it wants to capture the assets themselves.
Manulife John Hancock’s Abigail Benham said it selected Pontera as a “partner of choice” because it wants to support its advisor partners. However, Jack Barry noted that they are not yet allowing advisors to deduct fees from the DC accounts. Voya’s Lori Commerford said that it was still evaluating Pontera’s services, leading Kestra’s Taylor Hammons to ask whether plan sponsor permission is required.
As managed accounts, services like Pontera and advice gain traction, Daly wondered when TDF sales would subside, which has not happened yet.
With over $800 billion leaking out of DC plans to IRAs estimated to grow to $1.15 trillion in 20230, according to LIMRA, the discussion led to solutions to stem the tide. Pete Littlejohn said his firm, IRALOGIX, is enabling advisors and record keepers through an institutional platform mirroring DC omnibus accounts, but with better tech partnering with Morningstar. Steve McCoy at iJoin, in partnership with Penchecks, offers a similar solution leveraging tech and data, creating a simple workflow also using managed accounts with Inspira, which has been focused mostly on smaller accounts, led by Pete Welsh, beginning to look at larger ones.
Another b/d observed that for every $1 in IRAs, there is $9 more in wealth, noting that once a participant separates, it’s too late to form a relationship.
To deal with the explosion of new plans and enable wealth advisors to work with DC plans, Bidmoni has created an online marketplace with instant pricing, though Bidmoni’s Daigle said plan design and making plan formation easier through simpler electronic documentation are essential, something Daly said his firm’s PEP has done.
Michael Doshier noted that LPL, the quintessential independent b/d, is looking to cut costs to deal with plan explosion through a systematic and repeatable process to engage wealth advisors, wondering whether they should create a private-label solution. He also said operational efficiencies, not financial wellness, will lead to more wealth opportunities, while Powers stated Commonwealth is up 44% this year on new wealth assets from the workplace—it has been widely published that Morgan Stanley has gathered $300 billion from the workplace over the past five years.
Robust and healthy discussion from leading broker/dealers and service providers with no easy answers about how to leverage the convergence, though no one doubted it is real and an existential issue for RPAs and wealth advisors to thrive, as well, dealing with the coming tsunami of new plans. Because at this point, it is more important to be asking the right questions rather than looking for easy answers.
List of organizations attending September 3-4, 2025 RPA Broker/Dealer Roundtable
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