2018 Semi-Annual Meeting
January 15/16/17, 2018
Hosted by: INVESCO
Meeting Objective
The 2018 semi-annual meeting is designed to be thought provoking - a lab experiment in social change - peers exploring the fundamental value of the plan advisor function with the goal of helping a group of outstanding advisors position their respective practice to thrive in a market turned upside down by technological innovation. We will leverage the uniqueness of the Council - collaboration among experts who respect each other across colleges in friendly company - to foster innovation and help participating advisors thrive in the challenging years ahead.
The entire meeting is a collaborative study in change. Attendees do not get to select the sessions they attend. Instead, advisors and practice leaders will be assigned to specific breakout groups to provoke differential conversation. Investment managers and service providers in attendance will be assigned the role of prodder - devil's advocate - and charged with asking difficult questions they would probably not ask in a polite business conversation. In each group, three anonymous observers will study the behavior of attendees and report at general sessions. Sessions will be moderated by Council member service providers and investment managers to create unsettling situations.
Venue
INVESCO
11 Greenway Plaza
Houston, TX 77046
Dates and Times
Monday, January 15
12:30 p.m.
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
Transportation to pre-event
Pre-Event Houston Food Bank Project, Portwall Warehouse
35 Portwall
Houston, Texas 77029
Sponsored Pre-event dinner at Caracol
Tuesday, January 16
8:00 a.m.
8:30 a.m.
8:45 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
9:45 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Continental Breakfast Buffet
Welcome
Terry Kelly,
National Sales Director, Retirement, Insurance and Education
Invesco
Opening and Goals and Objectives
Meeting Plannning Committee and Houston Area Advisors:
Rob Jennings
Amegy Bank
Steve Smith,
VALIC
Big Bang Innovation to Succeed in the Retirement Plan Advice Business
Innovation takes many forms. Does it start with a sea change or small incremental modifications? What is the ripple effect of change in legislative, regulatory, service model shifts? This panel of retirement plan advisors will discuss the paths currently seen as the tried and true way to success and contrast those with the shifting dynamic of artificial intelligence, robo advisors and a disparate work force.
Moderator:
Steve Smith,
Managing Vice President, Business Development
VALIC
Panelists:
Jania Stout,
Fiduciary Plan Advisors
Hightower
Alexander G. Assaley, III,
Managing Principal,
AFS 401(k) Retirement Services
Refreshment Break
Breakout Sessions - Transformation of the Advisor Business
There is plenty of evidence that Professional Retirement Plan Advisors help client plans and their participants achieve superior outcomes. We now have evidence that employers reap business benefits from partnering with an outstanding Professional Retirement Plan Advisor.
However, the world is changing, and Plan Advisors need to define and redefine their value propositions, evolve business models and innovate faster than ever before to stay ahead. The future is swiftly becoming the present. Artificial intelligence is here now. Robotics are revolutionizing professions that historically relied on intellectual capital and relationships for differentiation (e.g. law firms, accountants). In the age of singularity, humans can’t keep up with the pace of technological innovation. How will your team thrive in this new era? Tough questions from your peers will keep you on your toes and help you stay ahead. You will be assigned to one of these three sessions:
Beyond Benchmarking: The Value of an Advisor
Location: Chicago Room
Moderator:
Adrian Hodge,
Senior Vice President
Eastern Division Manager - Workplace Investing
Fidelity Investments
Managing the Business for Successful Transition or Succession Planning
Location: Hong Kong Room
Moderator:
Mike Shamburger,
Head of Territory Sales
T. Rowe Price
Business Development:Is More Less? Is Less More? Is Scale the Key?
Location: London Room
Moderator:
Kevin D. Morgan,
Executive Director/Retirement Plan Investment Consultant
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
11:00 a.m.
12:15 p.m.
1:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.
CEO / Chief Innovation Officer / Chief Happiness Officer - Views on Innovation - Retirement Plans of the Future
Moderator:
Thomas M. Connolly,
Vice President, National Accounts
Empower Retirement
Panelists:
Youngro Lee
Co-founder and CEO
Next Seed
Other panelists TBA
Luncheon - Texas Barbecue Sponsored by INVESCO
Cybersecurity
Moderator:
Marcela Curry
Senior Vice President, National Director of Sales – Business Development
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust
Panelists:
Doug Peterson,
Empower/Great-West
Tim Rouse,
SPARK Institute
Keith Sykes,
Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement & Trust
James Dietle,
AIG
Breakout Session - Client Concerns / Industry Support
Consolidation and waves of staff reduction lead investment management firms and service providers to focus their attention on key relationships. At the end of the day, your strategic partners may have no choice but to let some people fall by the wayside. Are you worth their attention? Why is that important? You will be assigned to one of these three sessions:
What’s Happening to the Business Beyond the Fiduciary Rule?
Location: Chicago Room
This session will discuss what are the impacts on the employer while providing their employees access to retirement benefits and the impact for IRAs and the allure of retirement plan business for financial services firms.
Moderator:
Yaqub Ahmed,
Senior Vice President - Head of Defined Contribution-U.S.
Franklin Templeton Investments
What is the Impact of Technological Innovation on Managed Accounts and Professional Money Management?
Location: Hong Kong Room
Moderator:
Kathleen Beichert,
Head of Retirement & Third Party
OppenheimerFunds
Where Will Employer Appetite for Financial Wellness and HSAs, Equity Compensation, and 529 plans Lead Your Business and Are You Willing to Go Down this Path?
London Room
Moderator:
Dan Fay,
Senior Advisor Relations Manager
Financial Engines
3:00 p.m.
3:15 p.m.
4:15 p.m.
5:15 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Refreshment Break
General Session - The Retirement Advisor Council General Business
The Retirement Advisor Council needs to take a more proactive approach to enhancing the role of the retirement advisor. For example, committee structures need to be transformed to build a stronger, more effective PR advocacy organization.
Membership criteria needs to better focus on the future of retirement advisors. Tenure and size alone no longer guarantee success. Entrepreneurial spirit, the ability to adapt to a changing environment are critical in a world characterized by constant flux. How do we reflect these new success factors in the definition of “outstanding” and in the composition of our membership?
New Word Order - It’s Not Just What You Say, It’s What People Hear
Hear about defined contribution plan participants reaction to the vocabulary we use to communicate with them. Take away four principles to apply when communicating with participants. Invesco Consulting teamed up with the word specialists Maslansky + Partners to conduct one of the largest, most comprehensive studies of its kind on financial language. The research included measuring investors’ emotional responses to words using unique instant dial-response technology. The firm then conducted a national survey with the goal of validating findings, and uncovered amazing results
Speaker:
Jeff Hemker, CIMA®,
National Sales Manager
Invesco
Adjourn
Event Dinner at Tony’s
Wednesday, January 17
7:30 a.m.
8:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
10:15 a.m.
11:15 a.m.
Continental Breakfast
The Role of CFOs in Business Strategy and Future Direction
Moderator:
Robert A. Massa,
ChFC®, CEBS®, AIF®, CPFA®,CBC
Qualified Plan Advisors
Panelists:
Jeff Martini,
Chief Operating and Financial Officer
HICOR Technologies
Jordan Copland,
Chief Financial Officer
Quorum Business Solutions
Troy Gaddie,
Chief Financial Officer
Star of Hope
Arthur Cabrera,
Chief Financial Officer
Yokogama Corporation of America
Retirement Income – Can It Change and Insure the Future?
Presenters:
Tim Black,
Black Diamond Advisory Services
Craig McKenna,
MFS Investment Management
Refreshment Break
HROs: Forward-looking Talent Management Strategy
Moderator:
Martha Spano,
UBS Financial Services, Inc.
Panelists:
Irene Higgins,
US Oncology Network
Lynn Moffett,
BMC Software
Adjourn
Hotel / Transportation
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Houston - Greenway Plaza
6 E Greenway Plaza
Houston, Texas, 77046
For reservations, contact Council staff Kate Connole
