Advisers need to be 401(k) experts

As automatic features continue to propel 401(k) plans, advisers need to become retirement specialists to add value to the plan, , said Jamie Worrell, president of GPS Investment Advisors in Providence, Rhode Island. The role of the adviser has experienced a seismic shift compared to past, he said. He and other advisers discussed this issue today at the Center for Due Diligence conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. “There’s never been a greater opportunity than today for a retirement specialist plan adviser,” he said. “Today’s adviser is more of a service-oriented adviser.” In the past, advisers focused mostly on transaction-based opportunities and now advisers need to work more closely with key officials in the workplace. “Today’s advisers must work in the boardroom with trustees structurally on top-down strategy consulting plan design as opposed to the work we have always done in the trenches with participants,” Mr. Worrell said. Advisers need to be experts in the [401(k)] field, agreed Thomas Scalici, managing director of Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management Inc. in Bethlehem, Pa.