EAE Program
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ERISA ADVISOR EVALUATOR
The ERISA Advisor Evaluator (EAE) is an unbiased and independent online RFP service designed to help plan sponsors find, contrast and evaluate "expert" retirement plan advisors who meet minimum standards. The low cost EAE is also the most powerful marketing tool available to qualifying advisors.
By transforming the industry into a profession and pioneering the use of new media marketing strategy, the EAE program will change the industry. It will also professionalize the advisor selection process. As consolidation intensifies and fewer advisors service plan sponsors, the EAE will eventually put a floor under advisor pricing.
While less than 10% of advisors qualify to participate, advisors who do participate in the EAE Program will be on the right side of history and positioned around the wellhead of new business generation.
As an unmatched marketing tool, the EAE Program will differentiate expert advisors from generalists, something they cannot accomplish on their own. Within a short period of time, plan sponsors will begin asking incumbent and soliciting advisors if they are EAE members. In short, the EAE is the low cost path to differentiation, lead generation and business development.
To participate in the consolidation of retirement plan advisory services, grow your business and secure your piece of history, complete and return the advisor application form with payment. The cost to participate in the EAE Program for one year is less than the cost of a telemarketing service for one month.
| Minimum Criteria | Advisor Application |
Advisor User Agreement |
WHY EAE
Sponsors:
Regardless of any delegation or third party fiduciary assignments, sponsors are responsible for selecting and monitoring advisors on a periodic basis.
Few plan sponsors are fully cognizant of their retirement plan duties under ERISA. While these duties are rarely prioritized, the law requires fiduciaries to implement a prudent process for selecting, evaluating and monitoring advisors. Unfortunately, few sponsors have the skills or information to evaluate advisors. Until the development of the EAE Program, industry guidance has also been lacking.
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In addition to professionalizing the advisor selection process, the low cost, convenient, easy to use EAE will increase the sponsor's efficiency, reduce their burden and provide risk mitigation by documenting a prudent process for the retention of advisory services. |
Given corporate staff reductions, increased liability and the decline in sponsor satisfaction, the advisor's role has never been more important. In addition to fiduciary risk reduction, the engagement of an "expert" retirement plan advisor should facilitate a more competitive program for participants.
Advisors:
Ongoing business development is the biggest challenge facing advisors. Burdened with noise and client service, advisors lack the time, budget and marketing savvy to grow their business. While advisory services are increasingly viewed as a commodity, advisors must distinguish themselves to succeed. To prosper, advisors must also reach a larger audience, create awareness, develop brand and increase activity.
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In addition to a no growth environment, the financial services industry and the retirement plans market have matured. As a result, participating in the consolidation of advisory services and the professionalization of advisor selection is the ONLY path to growth. |
Beyond helping sponsors with their fiduciary duty to identify, select and monitor qualified advisors, the game changing, cost effective and compliance friendly EAE will help qualifying retirement plan advisors differentiate and grow their business.
To measure effectiveness, the CFDD will maintain information on who is using the services, the number of searches, popular search criteria and list why the winning advisors were selected.
EAE MARKETING STRATEGY
Integrated Websites, Branding & Promotion:
To drive business to qualified advisors participating in the EAE Program, the CFDD will use a multi-layered marketing strategy that includes push, pull and leveraged marketing as well as three different websites.
The CFDD website, The CFDD Internet Broadcast Radio Station and the upcoming EAE website are diverse platforms with different targeted markets. All three content rich platforms focus on the retirement plans market. To maximize brand awareness and promote advisors participating in the EAE Program, all the websites are integrated for business development purposes.
While the CFDD's website is designed to support retirement plan advisors, vendors and promote the CFDD's Advisor Conference; the upcoming EAE website is designed for plan sponsors and advisors participating in the EAE Program.
The new EAE website, www.ErisaAdvisorEvaluation.com, will include secure and non-secure areas for sponsors and advisors. Like the CFDD website, the EAE website will include valuable resources, links and host a new EAE Newsletter. An EAE advisor RFP search demonstration will also be available to plan sponsors, but access to the EAE system, including the EAE Advisor Profile, is limited to "paid" plan sponsor clients.
The CFDD Station is an Internet Broadcast Radio Station with 13 different channels devoted exclusively to retirement plans content and it will play a key role in the marketing of the EAE Program.
The CFDD Station was designed for the entire retirement plan market, including sponsors, participants, the media, vendors and other professionals. Unlike the CFDD and EAE websites, all content on The CFDD Station, including the Expert Retirement Plan Advisors channel, is available on demand 24/7 without cost or restriction.
EAE & EXPERT RETIREMENT PLAN ADVISOR PROFILES
To maximize advisor exposure and search engine traffic, we have developed two highly marketable advisor profiles. The EAE Advisor Profile is a downloadable document while the Expert Retirement Plan Advisor Profile is a dedicated webpage hosted on The CFDD Station.
The EAE Advisor Profile:
The independent EAE Advisor Profile was designed to be informative and a powerful marketing tool. The Profile document may be distributed at the advisor's discretion and posted to the advisor's website.
In addition to other pertinent information, the Profile displays the CFDD's qualifying seal, recognition that is exclusive to participating advisors who meet the EAE's minimum standards.
The EAE Advisor Profile is designed to provide plan sponsors with a meaningful snapshot of the advisor's experience, education and credentials. In addition to other information in the EAE system, sponsors will use the EAE Advisor Profile as a guide for selecting advisor candidates to score, query and interview.
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Click HERE to View A Sample |
The CFDD Station's Expert Retirement Plan Advisor Profile:
The contact information on the first page of the EAE Advisor Profile document mentioned above includes a link to the advisor's dedicated webpage on the Expert Retirement Plan Advisors channel on The CFDD Station.
In addition to their categorized geographic listing, the Expert Retirement Plan Advisor Profile webpage includes a photo, title, bio, company description, logo and link to the advisor's website. An "optional" audio interview designed to summarize the advisor's value proposition is also available.
To enhance exposure, advisors may post business development videos to their dedicated webpage and post a link to the same dedicated page on their own website. Similar to the EAE Advisor Profile, advisors may viral market a link to their dedicated Expert Retirement Plan Advisor Profile webpage.
In addition to on demand availability without cost or restriction, the descriptive copy on the advisor's dedicated page is Meta-tagged to maximize search engine optimization. The on demand content is also downloadable, forwardable, portable, linkable and benefits from cross station/platform traffic as well as aggregated RSS feeds on business journal websites across the country.
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As an added marketing bonus, advisors participating in the EAE program will have their photo, name and company scrolling across a TV Monitor on the homepage of the new EAE website with a link back to the Expert Retirement Plan Advisors channel. |
In terms of showcasing their skills, providing unmatched exposure to plan sponsors and growing their business, no other strategy or expenditure can match the marketing power of the EAE Program.
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To View The Profiles On The Expert Retirement Plan Advisors Channel, Go To http://www.bmbc.tv/channels.php?n=6. |
CFDD DIRECT & COLLATERAL MARKETING INITIATIVES
CFDD Direct Marketing:
To drive business to advisors in the EAE database, the CFDD is aggressively marketing the EAE Program directly to plan sponsors and other centers of influence. The marketing effort includes:
- Sponsor Branded Alliance Partners
- Media Outlets
- Sponsor Organizations
- Conferences
- Guest Articles & White Papers
- Academic Initiatives
- Guest Columns In Sponsor Publications
- EAE Newsletter
- CFDD Guide On "Evaluating Retirement Plan Advisors"
- Direct Email Campaigns
- Optional Collateral Marketing For Advisors
| In addition to the EAE Newsletter, our direct marketing to plan sponsors, ERISA attorneys, CPAs and other centers of influence will include video leveraged email campaigns. Each campaign will feature a different chapter in the guide on "Evaluating Retirement Plan Advisors." The unique campaign will also develop brand, prospects and sales leads with a brand connection and a call to action. |
EAE Newsletter
Designed to play a key role in our direct marketing efforts, the EAE Newsletter will focus on the rise in fiduciary breach claims, settlements and litigation.
To compensate for their fear of the unknown, sponsors often make emotional decisions and award business to existing relationships. To facilitate a more prudent process, the EAE Newsletter will discuss the sponsor's duties, legislative & regulatory requirements, liability, vulnerability, prohibited transactions (including the hiring of relatives) and provide motivation, solutions and tips on how to evaluate advisors.
The newsletter will be broadly disseminated to the CFDD's network, plans sponsors and ERISA attorneys. Carefully crafted over many years, the CFDD maintains the industry's most comprehensive list of ERISA attorneys.
To enhance exposure, Each EAE Newsletter will be repackaged specifically for plan sponsor driven websites and publications, including Workforce Management, CEO, PlanSponsor, P&I, Institutional Investor, etc.
| Given the marketing importance of the EAE Newsletter, it will not be another plain vanilla newsletter. Grossing up our decades of industry specific and ERISA knowledge, extensive network, marketing savvy and access to sensitive information, the EAE Newsletter will be a focused, authoritative, cage rattling, motivational and solutions oriented newsletter directed at plan sponsors and ERISA attorneys. |
The EAE Newsletter will do what advisors have not been able to accomplish, force plan sponsors to acknowledge the fiduciary duty, vulnerability and personal liability associated with the selection, evaluation and monitoring of advisors. Because the EAE Newsletter will be repackaged and widely disseminated to the nation's ERISA attorneys, it will have a powerful impact.
Valuable Collateral Marketing For Advisors:
In addition to the EAE Advisor Profile, the dedicated Expert Retirement Plan Advisors profile, the TV Monitor on the new EAE website and our direct marketing, we have developed optional template materials for advisors to use.
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The exclusive collateral template program is very valuable because it will promote the advisor's expert status, generate direct leads, leverage the "halo" effect of the EAE and create brand awareness of the EAE Program. The template materials for advisors include a series of private labeled email campaigns. The EAE campaign series includes: short/consistent messages, a link to the firm's customized value proposition video and a client development process for advisors to use in their own direct marketing. |
In summary, the primary components of the EAE Program include:
- EAE Website
- EAE Newsletter
- EAE Advisor Profile Document
- Expert Retirement Plan Advisors Profile Webpage
- TV Monitor Featuring Participating Advisors
- Plan Sponsor Profile
- RFP Advisor Searches/Evaluation Reports
- Direct Marketing
- Collateral Marketing
- Advisor Background Checks
- Insurance Review Program
EAE APPLICATIONS & NEW MARKETS
While due diligence, profiling and background checks on advisors are still in the embryonic stage of use, the professionalization of the advisor selection process is already becoming the next major trend to impact the financial services industry.
In addition to the plan sponsor market, vendors are concerned about the liability associated with generalist sales, sponsor dissatisfaction, the huge jump in broker of record turnover and the loss of direct sold business. To offset liability, assist direct sold plan sponsors, limit BOR turnover and gain a marketing edge, vendors are starting to perform due diligence on advisors and their firms. As a sales aid and productivity enhancer, wholesalers & TPAs are also expressing interest in advisor profiling.
To reduce risk and satisfy their ongoing fiduciary duties to monitor advisors, sponsors are beginning to request individual reports and background checks on incumbent advisors. While ERISA section 411 requires a background check, plan sponsors have rarely, if ever, performed background checks on advisors.
EXCLUSIVE INSURANCE SERVICES
Because ERISA does not require it, most plan sponsors lack fiduciary liability insurance and most advisors lack E&O coverage for fiduciary services provided to ERISA plans. As part of their due diligence, sponsors must ensure outside vendors have professional liability insurance and the proper coverage for services rendered to ERISA plans.
B-Ds generally require affiliates to purchase their E&O coverage through the firm. Unlike other professional practices, coverage varies widely in the financial services industry and the policy may not be available for review. The carrier may also be reluctant to provide concrete evidence of coverage. Unfortunately, proof of coverage cannot be satisfied by a simple Certificate of Insurance (COI). The only way to determine if coverage is adequate for the services rendered is to read the policy.
Because E&O insurance is a specialty, these policies must be reviewed by independent insurance brokers who specialize in this area and have industry specific knowledge. As a major value add, plan sponsors and advisors participating in the EAE Program may have their policy coverage reviewed by our alliance partner, NAPLIA.
As an additional value add, sponsors and advisors using the EAE Program are also pre-qualified to receive a significant discount on their coverage, a discount that may exceed the cost of participating in the EAE Program.
ADVISOR BACKGROUND CHECK/ ERISA 411 SOLUTION
Most plan sponsors, ERISA attorneys and other professionals lack the expertise and/or information required to evaluate advisors. Even though ERISA 411 requires it, very few plan sponsors perform background checks on their advisors. To meet this need, the EAE Program offers an "optional" full disclosure/financial integrity advisor background check.
The level of risk associated with the advisor's role should determine the depth of the background check. The advisor background check does not include fingerprinting, but the FBI quality report does include professional licensing, bankruptcies, judgments & liens, criminal background, etc.
While full disclosure and transparency have never been more important, the advisor finalist must give their permission before the background check is initiated. The advisor would also see the report in advance and be given the opportunity to correct any inaccuracies. The service is not designed to undermine advisors, but rather document the required prudent process for advisor selection.
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Consistent with the higher standards of ERISA and a maturing industry, the CFDD's independent, efficient and cost effective EAE is the only service that imposes minimum standards and provides meaningful due diligence on advisors, insurance policy reviews and advisor background checks. |
THE EAE PLAN SPONSOR PROCESS
Consistent with the higher standards of ERISA and a maturing industry, the CFDD's independent, efficient and cost effective EAE is the only service that offers objective due diligence on advisors, insurance policy reviews and advisor background checks. The online EAE tool is designed for plans of all sizes and while it contains standardized RFP questions vetted by industry experts, sponsors will have the ability to add, delete, modify or customize their questions.
Participating advisors will have the flexibility to pre-populate, save and retrieve the standardized questions. This is important because polished responses play a major role in the selection process. They also take time and may have to be approved by compliance.
In addition to the RFP, the base sponsor service will include training & tutorial components, meaningful links and downloads. An optional consulting service will be available on a fee basis to assist sponsors with RFP development and management. The consulting service will not include advisor evaluation, but advisors participating in the EAE program must meet minimum standards.
Once the RFP questionnaire is completed, the selected advisors will be contacted and given a fixed amount of time to populate the RFP using a web-hosted system. Upon receipt of all data, sponsors may access an automated scoring system that permits them to weight the responses based on customized preferences. Once the process is complete, sponsors may request additional information or download and forward the report to committee members.
The plan sponsor user fee is tiered by size and complexity. Base pricing includes five (5) advisor responses and access to the online RFP tool until the search is completed or up to one year. Additional advisors may be included in the search for an incremental fee.
ADVISOR PARTICIPATION
To add value and assist sponsors, the CFDD will maintain a searchable database of qualified retirement plan specialists. Advisors listed in the EAE database will incur a nominal annual fee. Additional team members housed in the same office may also participate at a reduced fee.
While the sort function allows the plan sponsor to determine their own criteria, advisors must meet the CFDD's minimum criteria to participate. If the advisor operates as a solo practice, the criteria will apply to the individual advisor. If the advisor is part of a team, the criteria would apply to the group, but each advisor will have a separate listing.
Determining the minimum criteria was somewhat challenging because fiduciary standards are evolving. To remain neutral, the minimum criteria was extensively vetted and designed to meet the needs of multiple market segments, including the small plan market. The minimum standards were further designed to meet the needs of individual practices, teams, independent firms and advisors with broker-dealer affiliations.
In addition to meeting the minimum criteria, each advisor must complete a standardized questionnaire profiling their book of business, expertise and services offered. In addition to other information in the system, the EAE Advisor Profile will be used by sponsors for search purposes, sorting and standards-based selection purposes only, i.e., confidential information will not be included in the profile. As noted above, the EAE Advisor Profile may be downloaded and forwarded to plan sponsors for marketing purposes.
Upon completion of the profiling questionnaire, brochures, bios, articles, awards and other pertinent information showcasing the advisor's skills may be uploaded to the EAE system. In other words, the upload flexibility will be an additional powerful and no cost marketing tool. To protect proprietary material, access to the profiling questionnaire, brochures and other uploads will be limited to sponsors.
Both sponsors and advisors are expected to read and accept the conditions. If the advisor declines the RFP, a reason must be provided. When an advisor is no longer under consideration, the sponsor must also provide a reason.
| EAE Overview |
DCIO & PLATFORM PROVIDER SUPPORT PROGRAMS
Like retirement plan specialists, DCIO managers and platform providers must participate in consolidation and maintain assets to grow their business. Unfortunately, many vendors are directing their support budget to generalists, including RIA generalists, rather than the "expert" advisors who will consolidate retirement plan advisory services.
In a mature market, consolidation and differentiation are the path to growth. In addition to positioning expert advisors to participate in the consolidation of retirement plan advisory services, the EAE Program advances the fiduciary standard by professionalizing the advisor selection process. The EAE process also differentiates specialists from generalists, something advisors cannot do on their own, and provides ERISA attorneys with a prudent process to sign off on.
Beyond supporting advisors participating in the EAE Program, DCIO managers and platform providers can use the EAE to develop a directory of pre-approved "expert" retirement plan advisors for referral and marketing purposes. In addition to partnering with the consolidating advisors and becoming a leader through the adoption of a fiduciary standard, vendors can use the EAE to build brand, loyalty and generate new business.
To find out how DCIO managers and platform providers can grow, distinguish themselves, assume a leadership role, build deeper relationships, improve margins and generate multi-level business through the EAE Program, contact the CFDD by phone at (630) 662-0284 and/or by email at CFDD@TheCFDD.com. In addition to custom applications, the CFDD is preparing a series of white papers on The Professionalization of Retirement Plan Advisor Selection. Chosen by the provider, each white paper will be bundled with an appendix of qualifying advisors who are participating in the EAE Program. |
