Why the 401(k) Market is a Profitable Niche for Financial Advisors

Retirement plans are pretty popular as investment vehicles.  Almost anyone who has ever worked for a mid to large size company has heard of a 401(k) plan. The plans tend to be generous and offer "free" money to participants, and employees have the ability to sock away a nice chunk of their own money as a nest egg for retirement. 

Niche Equals Success

My financial advisor clients have learned by working with me that targeting anyone and everyone about absolutely any issue is really the same as targeting no one about absolutely nothing. Many of my most successful financial advisors clients have selected 401(k)'s as one of their niche markets to help them stand out from the crowd of advisors who have no area of expertise.

The 401(k) market is a profitable niche for financial advisors for many reasons: 

1. Businesses that provide a 401k plans to their employees tend to be larger and more successful than small business owners with lower revenue and profitability, and these medium sized businesses tend to have greater longevity.     
2. Providing the investment choices in the plan opens a market to the advisor with regular monthly contributions to the plan that increase assets under management over time.
3. Becoming an expert at specific company plan design can help you garner rollovers from 401(k) participants and their co-workers.
4. The business owners themselves make great clients because they are profitable and may have personal investing needs outside their business.
5. The business owner may also need assistance with investing the profits of the business.

The key to targeting this market is to invest time and energy into crafting a strategy that sets you up as the go to person for any company interested in either moving or starting a plan. You can do that by:

·         Target plans with assets between $5 million and $50 million. This is a niche that larger mutual fund companies would rather not target due to profitability.

·         Become an expert in 401(k) plans – read all that you can about the current regulations, the options offered by your company, mutual fund, or broker dealer, and reading books and publications that deal with the industry.

·         Find out from your own Ideal Clients which companies you would like to target and then become an expert in their plan design. Ask for help from your Ideal Clients and get introductions to plan participants who are within five years of retirement.  Position yourself as the advisor they should approach when needed.

·         Learn the specialized distribution options offered by specific plans and give seminars to small groups of friends referred to you by Ideal Clients.

·         Call the person in this company who signs the 5500 form and ask if they are looking to send the plan out to bid. 

The 401(k) market can be very lucrative for the independent financial advisor and can open many doors to other opportunities.  Get on the niche bandwagon and take your practice to the next level.

Copyright© 2009 |Suzanne Muusers

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