Bringing together the nation’s top retirement plan advisors to move the needle on lifetime income

We recently hosted the fourth gathering of our Leaders in Lifetime Income in New York City. As members of this exclusive group, these leading retirement plan advisors are committed to bringing lifetime income to hardworking Americans, so they can retire with confidence and dignity. This group continues to grow and cement its place as one of the most informative and actionable lifetime income-focused events in the industry. It means a lot to our Nuveen team that the advisors took time out of their busy schedules to attend.

Since our last event, the pace of in-plan lifetime income adoption continues to accelerate. Especially following the announcement of our partnership with Empower in April, we have seen increased commitment to our solutions, while seeing our competitors also come to market with lifetime income solutions. The demand is there, and the marketplace is evolving to meet it.

We remain firmly mission focused on solving the U.S. retirement crisis. It is our highest priority, helping those 40% of Americans who risk running out of money in retirement (EBRI, 2019), by bringing guaranteed lifetime income into their retirement plans. Our Leaders in Lifetime Income are elevating this effort and amplifying their voice to drive lifetime income forward.

During the program, we all reminded ourselves of the importance of going back to the basics – simplicity, portability and cost. We believe that we have these elements at the ready, making our solution one that can make a real difference to those American’s struggling to see where their income is going to come from in retirement. Our parent company, TIAA, has been doing this for 100 years though the 403(b) market. Now it’s time to bring this to the 401(k) market. The question remains: How should our industry add in-plan annuities into retirement plans, while minimizing the inherent complexity of these products for the participants? Our event equips the Leaders in Lifetime Income to answer just that question.

Driving the lifetime income conversation

Throughout our two days together, we discussed implementation strategies to provide to plan sponsors and how to drive the conversation forward with participants. For this reason, our opening panel was simply titled “What’s working and what’s not?” This discussion dived into the idea of whether lifetime income is best embedded in-plan, or if the flexibility of keeping the annuity option out-of-plan is best for participants. The portability and optionality of the annuity was the deciding factor, as there was broad agreement that these solutions may not be for everyone. This discussion continued with a panel on the resources available to advisors, including our lifetime income toolkit, National Association of Plan Advisors RI(k) Certificate and Broadridge ’s Retirement Income Consortium. Both of which we proudly sponsor. Please reach out to your regional retirement specialist if you would like to learn more!

The panel also touched on the potential impact on wealth advisory, which is a topic we will be covering in our upcoming edition of nextAdvisor (read the inaugural edition here) as the impact on rollovers into IRAs remains to be seen. Our inbox is always open if any advisors reading this want dive into these conversations more. Please email us [email protected]. The conversation broadened into one of flexibility, as for those participants with larger balances there will still be a significant need for wealth advisory. The future of wealth remains in a state of flux, and it will be interesting to see how wealth and retirement advisory services evolve in the coming years.

We ended day one with a special program I thoroughly enjoyed: a speed networking event with the Junior Achievement USA organization of New York. This was a great opportunity for advisors to meet with some incredible students from underserved communities across the city. We worked through four rounds of conversations with these amazing students, talking to them about various career paths, about financial literacy, and about the multiple paths to success, whether through college or other training programs, that they can consider. The energy in the room was electric. One of my favorite things about the advisors we have at these summits is their passion to genuinely help Americans achieve their financial and retirement goals, and the work for that can begin with high school students. We met some truly special students and I can’t wait to follow their careers as they develop.

The focus on lifetime income implementation continued into the second day of the summit, with Kevin T. Hanney, CFA of CapitalArts Global, LLC and Chuck Williams, CFP, CRPS, AAMS, AIF of Finspire, LLC looking at the types and sizes of companies that are best suited for the initial conversations around lifetime income. Chuck laid out his initial criteria, saying he looks for companies that have high participation rates and a relatively small number of employees who are more likely to be sophisticated and active. He also said that the plan committee needs to have a base level curiosity toward lifetime income as well, and preferably a committee with an internal evangelist who will advocate for the solution to be added. Kevin addressed the implementation from a participant angle, saying that we need to think of the plan like an automobile. Throughout the evolution of the automobile, the user experience (namely, the brake, accelerator, steering wheel) remained roughly the same, despite what has changed under the hood and throughout the body of the vehicle. The same needs to happen for lifetime income; keep the user experience as similar as possible but reinvent what is happening behind the scenes.

We understand that these conversations are complex. People are conditioned to want flexibility and control, and annuities are often seen as giving up that flexibility to an insurance company. It is our job, and the role of advisors, to communicate the flexibility of these solutions can solve issues that many people face in retirement.

We’re also developing research and content to help complement the work being undertaken by advisors, to give them more data and insights to use with their clients. We had a presentation on the Benefits 2.0 research, conducted by Economist Impact and sponsored by Nuveen, which examines the broad benefits preferences of U.S. workers, and we looked specifically at workers within the manufacturing, utilities and energy, and sports media and entertainment sectors. We have found deep insights into what different workers want, when divided by race, gender, age and seniority. The research establishes three significant themes: employee priorities are shifting, but businesses aren’t answering the call for tailored benefits; as such 70% of workers would consider switching jobs for better benefits; and two-thirds of workers say their organizations don’t tout benefits or train sufficiently, so benefits go unused.

Amplifying advisor voices

Esti Buskin , Nuveen's Head of Nuveen Retirement Marketing, led multiple sessions discussing the power of the voice of the advisor. These sessions touched upon social media best practices (be on the lookout for a new resource hub launching on Nuveen.com soon), amplifying thought leadership, and examining which type of resources are most valuable. The drive to elevate the voices of the advisors in attendance was not just limited to the discussion room. We had a professional headshot lounge so the advisors could enhance their online profiles, and LinkedIn ’s Nicole Gartland shared best practices and personalized tips to refresh the profiles of any advisors who want to stand out from the crowd. These elements are part of the broader package that allows us to elevate the leadership qualities of top retirement plan advisors.

As we work with these Leaders in Lifetime Income, we are committed to continue championing for lifetime income in all 401(k) plans in an effort to solve the American retirement crisis.

Thank you to all the advisors who joined us and shared their invaluable insights with the group!

Pictured from left to right: Hans Schemmel of Edward Jones , Kevin T. Hanney, CFA of CapitalArts Global, Kim Cochrane, QPA, TGPC of HUB International , Franco LoFaro of 摩根士丹利 , Eric Hansen of LPL Financial , Brad L. Larsen, AIF, PRP, CHSA, C(k)P of NFP, an Aon company , Stephen M. Welch, CRPC? CRPS? QPFC? FiWD of 摩根士丹利 , Bruce Lanser of 瑞银集团 , Taylor Hammons of Kestra Financial , Timothy Irvin, CFP?, QKA?, CPFA?, AIF? of CAPTRUST , Kristen O'Gara Koluch, CFA of Raymond James , Philip Chao 趙希麟 of Nexus338, Jared J. Manville of Mayflower Advisors , Chuck Williams, CFP, CRPS, AAMS, AIF of Finspire, LLC , Alex Assaley, AIF? of HUB International , Thomas Parker of OneDigital , Jason Chepenik of OneDigital , Todd Levy, AIFA, QKA of The Retirement Plan Company, LLC , Barbara Delaney of HUB International , Matt Hedley, CFP? of OneDigital and Brian Roberts, CFA of flexPATH Strategies . Not pictured: Cameron McCarthy

Interested in learning more about Nuveen Retirement Investing? Email us at [email protected] or call us at 888-842-5433. Read the latest edition of our defined contribution publication, next and subscribe to receive our latest insights straight to your inbox.

Endnotes Any guarantees are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing company.

This material is for informational or educational purposes only and does not constitute fiduciary investment advice under ERISA, a securities recommendation under all securities laws, or an insurance product recommendation under state insurance laws or regulations. This material does not take into account any specific objectives or circumstances of any particular investor or suggest any specific course of action. Investment decisions should be made based on the investor’s own objectives and circumstances.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Member FINRA, distributes securities products. Annuity contracts and certificates are issued by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) and College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF), New York, NY. Each is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations.

Nuveen, LLC provides investment solutions through its investment specialists.

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