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The great 401(k)-or-not debate: RIABiz webinar lays out the perils and rewards for RIAs thinking of wading into the fast-moving 401(k) stream

Jessica Maldonado: As long as they can evidence that they did some quality due diligence in hiring us then they are feeling like they are pretty validated.

Searcy Financial Services

Hartford Funds

401(k) Help Center.com

Jessica Maldonado

Rick Meigs

Michael Francis

The days when RIAs were the outsiders at the 401(k) party are fast coming to a close. What's new is that the mass of 401(k) assets 
is getting critical at about $3 trillion; fiduciary advisors are getting appreciated; fat fees and questionable kickbacks are getting exposed and stepping out of line is getting dicier as the Department of Labor tightens the regulatory screws.

The old reasons why the 401(k) business is attractive are still in place: there are fresh assets pouring in every month and when employees leave jobs or retire, they produce rollovers that build up IRA accounts for financial advisors. The drawbacks of getting into the 401(k) business are still in place, too. Dealing with retirement assets is really a second line of business and it remains -- unless you overcharge with hidden fees -- a low margin business with high potential fiduciary liabilities.

Still, the outsourcers, infrastructure and accumulated knowledge for RIAs to capitalize on is growing daily and a the mega-shift of assets away from brokers is making the 401(k) business riskier and riskier -- to ignore.

401(k) Stories

The RIA business is many good things but integrated from a gender standpoint is not one of them. This is not so great. Women are the majority of humanity and they have an asset-building strategy that can't be beat. Women outlive their beer-and-steak mates and end up with big estates. But today's women have too another strategy -- pursuing wealth in the workplace. Yet when they go to find fellow women to talk all this through with, they don't readily find them. 

Companies big and small have for decades fallen over themselves to say that they have women's initiatives but I can't think of one that has amounted to much. But there are stories-- dozens or hundreds -- of them about women exerting their influence on this business and we are starting to collect them. It's a starting place -- documenting the ground being covered by women in the form of engaging tales graphically depicted by the physiognomy of the fairer sex.

Women of Wealth Management

Small and midsized RIAs must factor in where the fiduciary buck stops, identify profit margins and be prepared to grapple with a six-foot stack of ERISA regs -- but the rewards are potentially great

The great 401(k)-or-not debate: RIABiz webinar lays out the perils and rewards for RIAs thinking of wading into the fast-moving 401(k) stream

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