Digital transformation to improve and scale client experience
Problem: A leading retirement plan administrator was realizing significant growth and, consequently, was challenged to service its expanding client base more effectively. For participants, the enrollment process was confusing and led to abandonment, and those who did complete the process were often under-saving. Sponsors struggled to understand their plans’ effectiveness, while advisers were challenged to service common clients. The company faced continuous pressure to reduce costs in a mature market, but also to improve service to maximize client retention.
Solution: Chris led a multi-pronged effort to improve the client experience and reduce operating costs through digital transformation. He worked with leadership to form agile product-development teams dedicated to each key stakeholder group and established multi-year roadmaps with flexibility to pivot to new priorities as needed. The participant team developed a mobile phone enrollment process that leveraged behavioral economics to affect higher savings rates. The plan sponsor team developed a platform allowing employers to identify at-risk participants and develop engagement programs. The adviser team launched a new digital experience providing a holistic view of all the plans they serviced.
Impact: The company achieved increasing market share while decreasing average unit costs every year of the program. Plan sponsor retention reached 99%, and Net Promoter Scores achieved all-time highs. Participants realized a 20% higher completion rate on enrollments and a 30% increase in average savings rates. Adviser NPS also realized all-time highs, as did the total number of advisers doing business with the administrator.
Strategic repositioning to grow a product offering
Problem: A mid-sized health benefits administrator struggled to grow their health savings account (HSA) that complemented their administration business. The technology platform limited HSA availability to health administration clients. Individuals who used the account invested in cash and tended to deplete their accounts annually, not gaining the tax benefits of long-term investing in HSAs. The product line was unprofitable, lacked a clear leader, and suffered from chronic under-investment, resulting in a poor customer experience.
Solution: Chris led a strategic review of the HSA offering that culminated in repositioning the HSA as a complementary retirement account for a 401(k) plan, rather than a health benefit offering. This repositioning significantly increased the addressable market but required significant technology development. He led the technology transformation to allow 401(k) plan sponsors to implement the provider’s HSA and scale rapidly. He also led the digital integration of HSAs with 401(k)s to provide participants and plan sponsors a holistic view of their savings accounts. His team developed a patented process for optimizing savings decisions across 401(k), HSAs, and other tax-deferred investment options.
Impact: The provider doubled market share in four years as the firm realized 50%+ annual growth in assets under management. Long-term investments increased from less than 10% of AUM to over 30% as more account holders began using the HSA for retirement savings. Morningstar now ranks the provider the best overall HSA for long-term investors.
AUM growth for a full-service retirement plan administrator
Problem: A leading retirement plan administrator and mutual fund manager was experiencing strong growth in its administration clients and assets under administration (AUA), but an ongoing decline in its assets under management (AUM). After many years of selling administration and asset management as a bundled service offering, the administrator increasingly sold the services separately in response to market trends. The administrator still had thousands of bundled clients and those clients were withdrawing billions of dollars annually from the company’s mutual funds. The administration and mutual fund businesses were organized into separate units with no joint goals, incentives, or accountability to address the problem.
Solution: Chris led a strategic initiative to address the AUM outflow, bringing together executives from the administration and mutual fund businesses into a joint task force and facilitating discussions on the causes and remedies for the outflows. He established KPIs for the effort and included them in business unit leaders’ scorecards, and new incentives for client-facing associates that emphasized AUM growth. Teams also introduced new products specifically targeting the retirement plan channel, including the launch of a retirement income offering and the inclusion of private real estate into target date funds.
Impact: The company realized a multi-billion-dollar improvement in net flows in three years, achieving its first positive net flows in the administrator channel in over a decade. The provider’s target date mutual funds achieved the highest net flows in the industry.
Merger integration of three businesses into a global provider
Problem: A global pension administrator acquired a U.S. health benefits administrator to broaden its offering. Its sister company was divesting its U.S. defined contribution business, and there was interest in bringing all three businesses together to provide integrated benefits administration. However, each of the three businesses had distinct leaders and cultures that did not blend well together. Further, the non-U.S. businesses were run regionally without a global leader. The corporate parent announced to investors its intention to form a new global business within six months.
Solution: Chris led the merger integration and launch of the business, working with the newly announced President of the global business and executives of the three respective businesses to develop a process and form project teams to undertake the work. He facilitated executive discussions of organization options and recommended leaders for different functional roles while overseeing the development of financial projections and recommending areas for cost savings. He reported regularly to the CEO and leadership of the parent company on progress and led strategy development post-integration.
Impact: The business successfully launched on time with $500M in combined revenue and 4,500 employees globally. In its first year of operation, the company saw growth across all lines of business including health and benefits administration, pension administration, and defined contribution, and the company exceeded its financial projections for revenue and profit.
Launch of a self-directed brokerage business to
improve rollover IRA capture
Problem: A leading mutual fund manager and retirement plan administrator was experiencing significant asset outflows as plan participants retired or changed jobs and rolled their balances to competitor IRA accounts. The company offered its own IRA with investment options limited to their own funds. However, the individual investors rolling out of plans often held other funds and company stock and they wished to keep. The company considered offering employees a more complete financial offering, but as their mutual fund business relied on third-party advisor distribution, they were concerned about channel conflict.
Solution: Chris developed a strategy to optimize rollover retention while protecting the company’s relationship with third-party advisors. He devised a self-directed brokerage business that would allow individual investors to retain their funds and company stock, obtained FINRA approval, and negotiated a clearing and settlement agreement with a third party. In parallel, he established a referral network to third-party advisors for those individuals seeking more full-service advice.
Impact: The company more than doubled the retention of 125,000 investors distributing $5B annually from their administered retirement plans, improving the retention rate from 14% to 30%. The self-directed brokerage business produced 10,000 new accounts and over $1B in new assets annually, reaching $20M in annual revenue in three years. Advisers who were part of the referral program saw a 20% increase in fund sales.