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Looking Inside to Grow Defined Contribution Outside

by Anu

In a recent discussion with a client, we were pondering "How do you leverage your firm's internal groups to help support your DCIO business?"

The anti-Mike answer works: "it depends." The first three areas we discussed included:

• Institutional Investment Consultant Group: Why? Well, this group specializes in working with intermediaries. In an institutional mandate, the consultant is not too different than the Third-Party Administrator or Recordkeeper. Therefore, this group will have knowledge and methods to deliver for a TPA.


• Marketing: Why? Outside of business-as-usual support for DCIO, Marketing organizations allocate resources to support wholesaler efforts with financial advisors interested (or not) in the firm's investment products (e.g. mutual funds, separate accounts, ETFs, etc). Marketing can provide data on past programs, conferences, and campaigns that provided marketing lift. The DCIO team can leverage these "lessons learned" to improve meetings. At one firm, the DCIO team reviewed Marketing's mutual fund value-added programs only to realize at least two make great "lead ins" to defined contribution discussions.


• e-Business: Why? Defined contribution plans are complicated and difficult to understand. Advisors want to know on which platforms your funds have placement. Are you part of The Hartford's Aviator Program, because I use that? Building a simple site sub-section to list platform placement, includes press releases of large (and small) business won, and detail R share pricing facilitates an advisors selection process.

We're in an exciting time for Defined Contribution and there's significant growth opportunity. The first step is looking within and maximizing internal strengths.