The National Association of Plan Advisors today released its annual list of the top women advisors in the retirement plan space across three categories, comprising those with their own practices, those who are leaders within their organizations, or those with less than five years of experience with retirement plans as a financial advisor.
The winners came from a list of more than 550 nominations provided by NAPA’s partner firms across the broker-dealer, wirehouse and registered investment advisor channels who were identified as top advisors working primarily on retirement plans.
“We had a record number of nominations this year,” said Nevin Adams, chief content officer at the American Retirement Association in Arlington, Va.
NAPA is part of the American Retirement Association, an advocacy group focused on issues pertaining to retirement plan advisors.
“It was an amazing turnout of firms putting forth these individuals for consideration,” he added. “I think we had about 300 nominations the first year. This speaks to the growing visibility of women in the profession.”
NAPA has announced these awards since 2015.
Adams noted that each nominated advisor was asked to fill out an application submitted to an independent panel of judges containing certain details about their practice, such as assets under advisement, number of participants they serve and the amount of revenue they get from retirement plans. They also were asked about the ways they give back to the industry, and whether they serve as mentors and in what ways.
“This year we asked them about lessons they learned during the pandemic, along with their prospects about the future,” he said. “We ask about 25 questions that are a combination of qualitative and quantitative that our judges review.”
The All-Stars category is composed of top producers with their own practice.
The Captains category are those who are principals, owners or team captains of their organizations.
The Rising Stars category consists of top financial advisors with less than five years of experience with retirement plans.
“What’s amazing about the Rising Stars list is there are names here who aren’t rookies in that they’re not new to the retirement plan space, but they’ve moved within the industry,” Adams said. “Some used to be wholesalers, some used to be with record keepers or worked with various providers. Some of the people have literally been in this space less than five years, but probably half of that list comprises people who’ve been in the industry 15 or 20 years, and they’ve made a move over to the advisor side only recently.
“I think that means you’ve got folks who are new as advisors but they’re bringing powerful and richer perspectives to the role of the advisor,” Adams said. “We have 25 individuals in this category this year—I think the most we had before was 16. These are people to keep an eye on.”