Tycor Benefit Administrators, Inc.® is pleased to announce that J. Timothy Corle, CPC, CFP® has been named to the 2018 edition of the Financial Times 401 Top Retirement Advisers. The list recognizes the top financial advisers who specialize in serving defined contribution (DC) retirement plans, such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans, across the US.
This is the fourth annual FT 401 list, produced independently by the Financial Times in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides business intelligence on the asset management industry.
Financial advisers from across the US applied for consideration, having met a set minimum of requirements. The applicants were then graded on six criteria: DC assets under management; DC plan growth rate; specialization in DC plans; years of experience; advanced industry credentials; and compliance record. There are no fees or other considerations required of advisers who apply for the FT 401.
The final FT 401 represents an impressive cohort of elite advisers: the “average” adviser in this year’s FT 401 has 20 years of experience advising DC plans and advises $1.26 billion in DC plan assets. The FT 401 advisers hail from 38 states and Washington, D.C., and DC plans on average account for 81% of their practices’ total assets.
The FT 401 is one in a series of rankings of top advisers developed by the FT in partnership with Ignites Research, including the FT 300 (independent RIA firms) and the FT 400 (broker-dealer advisers).
The formula the FT uses to grade advisers is based on six broad factors and calculates a numeric score for each adviser. The factors were: DC assets under management (AUM). This signals experience and success in managing money in 401(k) programmes and other DC plans. Growth rate in DC plan business. Measured by changes in both DC plan clients and assets, growth is a proxy for performance, client retention and ability to draw new clients. Specialisation in the DC business. This is measured by what percentage of the overall assets managed by the adviser are in DC plans and how that concentration has changed. Experience advising on DC plans. This tracks years spent managing DC plan assets through different economic and market environments. Industry certifications. These show technical knowledge that is particularly important in the complicated DC plan industry. Compliance record. A string of client complaints can signal potential problems.