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Retirement Plan Advisor Group’s Growth Exceeds Expectations

admin | May 3, 2012 | 0 Comments

More than 65 Companies Sign Up as Founding Partners

ARLINGTON, VA, (May 3, 2012) – The National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA)—an individual membership organization created by and for retirement plan advisors—today announced it has exceeded its first-year membership goal just six months after its launch.

“A fact worth noting is that the vast majority of NAPA’s 3,000 members are frontline advisors,” said Marcy L. Supovitz, NAPA president and principal of Boulay Donnelly & Supovitz Consulting Group, Inc. “Until NAPA came along, there was no professional association that was purely dedicated to the retirement plan advisor community.”

NAPA is a sister organization of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), and is supported by more than 65 Founding Partners that include financial institutions, broker dealers and RIA firms. Advisors affiliated with NAPA Founding Partners have their annual dues waived in 2012.

“NAPA’s value proposition is two-fold,” said Supovitz. “It gives plan advisors access to critical business intelligence and opportunities to network; but more important, NAPA provides advisors with a greatly needed voice in Washington, DC.”

“Policymakers have little understanding of what 401(k) plan advisors do,” said Brian Graff, ASPPA executive director and CEO. “The recent debates over a fiduciary standard and the definition of investment advice under ERISA proved that. Given the economy’s continued uncertainty and the threats to retirement plans posed by tax reform, there’s no question that advisors need to have their views represented at upcoming debates and policy discussions. NAPA has the right leaders for what lies ahead.”

NAPA is governed by a Leadership Council that consists of nine advisors with voting privileges, plus five non-voting ex-officio members. The Council includes advisors Marcy Supovitz, Sam Brandwein, Steff Chalk, Mark Davis, Joe DeNoyior, Steve Dimitriou, Tony Franchimone, Joe Gordon, and Bruce Gsell; plus industry council members Bill Chetney, Bill Elmslie, and Gary Kleinschmidt. The NAPA Leadership Council is charged with setting the strategic direction and making policy decisions on all matters related to NAPA’s mission.

This fall, the organization will launch a web portal that its creators say will be unlike anything in the industry. “The portal will provide a home base where advisors can connect and have access to directories and curated content on a daily basis,” offered Fred Barstein, the portal’s chief architect. “This will be a big deal for NAPA and should help attract even more attention to all we’re doing to benefit retirement plan advisors.”

For more information on NAPA membership or the NAPA Founding Partners program visit
www.napa-advisors.org

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The National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) is an affiliate organization of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA). NAPA was created by and for retirement plan advisors with a specific purpose—to provide plan advisors with greatly needed advocacy, business intelligence and superior networking opportunities. Membership is open to all retirement plan advisors and support personnel. NAPA’s mission is to be a leader in the evolution of the national retirement system to improve transparency, effectiveness, and governance in an effort to improve the retirement outcome and security for participants. For more information, visit www.napa-advisors.org

The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) is a national organization of more than 8,500 retirement plan and benefits professionals that serves as the educator, voice, and advocate for the employer-based retirement system. ASPPA members are administrators, actuaries, advisors, attorneys, accountants, and other financial services professionals who provide consulting and administrative services for qualified retirement plans. ASPPA is based in Arlington, Virginia, and has 21 regional ASPPA benefits councils (ABCs) providing local retirement plan employee benefit professionals with opportunities to participate in ASPPA activities in their local communities. For more information, visit www.asppa.org