Client Relationship Consultant

FuturePlan is the nation’s largest third-party administrator (TPA) of retirement plans, partnering with advisors in all 50 states. FuturePlan delivers the best of both worlds: high-touch personalized service from local TPAs backed by the strength and security of a large national firm, Ascensus. Our roots go back decades, with nearly 30 outstanding legacy firms now joined together to deliver unmatched levels of service, innovation and expertise to a fast-growing client base from coast to coast. The FuturePlan team includes more than 500 credentialed plan professionals, 60 actuaries, and one of the industry’s largest in-house ERISA teams. Learn more at FuturePlan.com.

FuturePlan is the nation’s largest third-party administrator (TPA) of retirement plans, partnering with advisors in all 50 states. FuturePlan delivers the best of both worlds: high-touch personalized service from local TPAs backed by the strength and security of a large national firm, Ascensus. Our roots go back decades, with nearly 30 outstanding legacy firms now joined together to deliver unmatched levels of service, innovation and expertise to a fast-growing client base from coast to coast. The FuturePlan team includes more than 500 credentialed plan professionals, 60 actuaries, and one of the industry’s largest in-house ERISA teams. Learn more at FuturePlan.com.

Position Summary

Serve as a resource to plan sponsors, CPAs, and financial advisors for matters related to ERISA compliance, plan design and governmental reporting. This person is the single point of contact for the employer/plan sponsor and all of their advisors/financial professionals and plan sponsor for their accounts.  A Client Relationship Consultant attends and participates in client meetings and client challenges both in person and virtually. They are not only responsible for delivering and consulting on the final product of annual administrative reports but serve as the retirement plan expert to their clients on Cash Balance Plans and 401(k) Profit Sharing plans in areas including, but not limited to, non-discrimination testing, 5500s, loans and distributions, plan documents, PBGC, actuarial valuations and calculations, and corrective measures needed to maintain ERISA compliance. This person also understands stand-alone and combo plan design/testing, and can assist on daily plan operations with finding practical solutions to client issues.

Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients.
• Our I-Client service philosophy and our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always® should be visible in your actions on a day to day basis showing your support of our organizational culture.

Managing Relationships with Clients

• Achieve above 4 average ratings on client survey forms. Maintain a good relationship with each client.
• Retain all existing profitable clients and prevent attrition of this type of client.
• Work to improve profitability of non-profitable clients by increasing fees or helping them find a new consulting firm.
• Complete Annual Client Review form for all clients, with a formal conference call or face-to-face meeting. Make a point of going through the exercise to make sure that you have addressed all items on the client review form on an annual basis.
• Watch for changes of the clients’ needs and expectations.
• Watch for changes taking place within clients’ firm.
• Be the main contact for our clients, advisors, CPAs and attorneys who are involved with the plans for strategic plan issues.
• Be the first to be contacted by a client when they have consulting/strategic issues regarding the plans.
• Identify and define clients’ problems. Listen for problems that client is facing and find a way to provide appropriate solutions for them.
• Seek out consulting opportunities by always look for opportunities to provide additional services and consulting to clients and bill for the services.
• Be proactive and contact clients regarding upcoming events or issues, including changes at vendors and changes in the law and regulations that may affect their plans and let them know that you are thinking about them at all times.

RETIREMENT CONSULTING

Managing Your Book of Business

• Achieve above 4 average ratings on internal timeliness survey form.
• Work with an assigned Specialist(s) to get Normal Recurring Services done within our service standards (e.g., six weeks for completing IRS testing, etc.).
• Follow-up data, trust, documents etc. necessary to complete the work in a timely fashion and minimize rushes.
• Assign appropriate tasks in Workflow and manage due dates with clients and specialists.
• Work with assigned Specialist and/or Compliance Team subgroups (e.g., loan and withdrawals, plan documents, etc.) to get Other Services done by agreed upon due date with client.
• Have the agreed upon number of face-to-face client meetings each year. Promote meetings by calling on clients to see if they can meet with you at our office or theirs. Offer them lunch, if appropriate.
• Provide answers and solutions to problems that Specialists encounter. Address the issues right away, do not create work bottleneck for other team members working on your clients.
• Delegate administrative functions of the daily routine and manage the work delegated to your administrative assistant to get the work done

Billing

• Enter consulting time in time keeping system daily.
• Manage a book of business as defined in your annual goals (current range is from $750,000 to $1,500,000).
• Ensure client service (fee) agreements are up-to-date.
• Complete billing by processing your draft billing summary (DBS) within 5 business days of receipt from Accounting and processing traditional invoices within 10 business days of receipt from Accounting. All billing, including adjustment forms should be done via paperless processes.
• Identify and determine the write-up/write-off amounts. Bill toward the budget of normal recurring services and other services outside of normal recurring services appropriately.
• Communicate and work out billing issues with the President. Determine whether the budget is too high or too low, indicate any extra time that is not billable with the reasons identified and suggest solutions.
• Prepare Client Authorization Forms for additional special service projects.
• Collect billing by working with assigned Accounting Specialist. Monitor the Aging report and follow up when talking with the client and outstanding invoices. Ideal days-sales-outstanding (DSO) is less than 35 days.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES - Internal

• Training Needs
• Consider attending at least one outside retirement services seminar a year (e.g. ASPPA, etc.), per agreed upon Learning & Professional Development Plan. Refer to the firm’s policy on attending seminars.
• Attend appropriate internal training sessions.
• Keep up to date of all aspects of retirement plan and/or investment consulting by reading circulated emails and papers on technical/investment issues.
• Internal Process Improvement
• Suggest ideas to improve our processes. Discuss challenges that you face with your supervisor at any time. Suggest constructive solutions to those challenges. Share your ideas amongst your peers.
• Provide feedback for other employees’ and your own One-to-One meetings by the due date requested.
• Provide back up to other teams as necessary.
• Other work as assigned via Committees and/or Taskforces.

Sales

• Promote/sell additional special services to existing clients.
• Meet when possible with centers of influence
• Call on prospects as necessary with or without sales team to close the business.
• Attend meetings/seminars to build relationships with influential people.
• If defined in annual goals, close an agreed amount of first year billings from new clients
• Assist with other tasks and projects as assigned

Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements

• Five to ten years of experience in the retirement plan industry
• Excellent understanding of plan administration, compliance testing and pension law.
• At least three years of hands on experience with defined contribution (401(k)) plans, including record keeping and vendor issues if working primarily with defined contribution plans.
• At least three years of hands on actuarial work with defined benefit plans, including cash balance plans if working primarily with defined benefit plans. Includes excellent understanding of funding methods and valuations.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Good business sense to understand clients’ business needs
• Team player
• Self-motivated
• Comfortable working with numbers
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including public speaking, on the phone and presentation skills
• Excellent delegation skills
• Excellent computer skills in Excel, Word and Notes
• Intermediate sales/negation skills

EDUCATION/TRAINING NEEDED

• B.A./B.S. preferred
• Working towards ASPPA’s CPC designation preferred.
• If working on DB plans, have knowledge base of an Enrolled Actuary (EA) – EA preferred.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Ascensus, we aspire to make a difference for others. We are a technology-enabled services company that helps people save for retirement, education, and healthcare through our network of institutional, financial advisor, and state partners. Our culture is guided by sound principles, is committed to high standards, operates with transparency, and welcomes diversity—housed within our Core Values: People Matter. Quality First. Integrity Always.®

As a leading independent recordkeeping services partner, retirement plan third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator, we aim to hire associates who find pride in going to work every day knowing that they help more than 12 million people save for what matters.