401(k) Fridays Podcast

I am excited to get to get the podcast kicked off this year with a fast paced and wide ranging conversation with Peter Mollouk, President & CEO of Creative Planning. The main focus was employee education, how it has evolved and where it could go from here, the roles automatic plan design features and education have in helping employees on their path to retirement, who should pay for employee education, and much more.

Before we get started, if you are not subscribed to the podcast take care of that today, go to your favorite podcast app and search 401(k) Fridays and hit subscribe. We have a ton of great new episodes in the queue to share with you this year. You may also explore over 250 prior episodes, most of which are still relevant today.

That’s it, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Peter!

Guest Bio

Peter Mallouk, JD, MBA, is the President and CEO of Creative Planning and affiliated companies. Peter’s companies provide comprehensive wealth management services to its clients, including investment management, financial planning, tax planning, retirement plan consulting, estate planning services, and charitable planning.

Creative Planning provides wealth management services to high net worth clients, manages over $100 billion* for clients in all 50 states and abroad, is featured as the #1 Independent Wealth Management Firm in America by Barron’s, (2017) and has been featured in CNBC’s wealth manager rankings as the ‘#1 Wealth Management Firm in America’ in 2014 and 2015. The New York Times, in an article about the firm, said “Creative Planning is at the vanguard of a profound shift in finance.” (2017)

Peter has been featured in Barron’s as one of the ‘Top 100 Independent Financial Advisors in America,’ having won the award for three consecutive years (2013-2015). Peter is featured on Worth magazine’s ‘Power 100’, featuring the most powerful men and women in global finance (2017 & 2018). Creative Planning was featured in Forbes in 2016 as the #1 RIA for growth over the last 10 years prior, and Financial Times’ ‘Top RIA List’ (2014-2020). Creative Planning is also featured in Ingram’s magazines’ issues on ‘Best Wealth Manager’ (2020) and ‘Corporate Champion’ (2018) and Kansas City Business Journal magazines’ issue on ‘Best Places to Work’ (2020).

Peter graduated from the University of Kansas in 1993 with four majors, including degrees in Business Administration and Economics. He went on to earn a law degree and Master of Business Administration in 1996, also at the University of Kansas. Peter is the recipient of the University of Kansas School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award, becoming the second youngest recipient to receive the award. His wife Veronica holds the spot of the youngest!

Peter is the founder, current executive board member, and former five-year Chairman of KCCAN!, an organization of volunteers dedicated to improving the quality of life of children in Kansas City. He is also the founder and current executive board member of Pathway Financial Education, an organization dedicated to providing teenagers, adults, and business owners in under-resourced communities with actionable financial education. Peter is a recipient of the Ernst & Young Central Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2017).

Peter and his wife Veronica are the recipients of the Giving the Basics Human Dignity Award for their contributions towards helping those less fortunate meet basic needs, and recipients of the Variety Presidential Citation Award for their work supporting those with special needs. Peter has served on the boards of Pathway to Hope, American Stroke Foundation, St. Michael’s Finance Council, Kansas City Hospice and KCCAN!

Most recently, Peter founded Pathway Financial Education, a Kansas City-based nonprofit that provides free financial training and education to small business owners, adults, and youth in under-resourced communities. Pathway was born from a vision that Peter had after recognizing an unmet need in under-resourced communities of comprehensive financial education and training. Pathway opened its doors April 13, 2021.

Peter and Veronica have three children – Michael, JP, and Gabby.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

As we take the turn into the holiday season, what will holiday shopping look like this year? Will the supply chain challenges, inflation, or other elements bring major changes? How could this impact the economy and financial markets? To help dissect all of this and more, I am happy to welcome back Rich Weiss, senior vice president and chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments. Also, don’t miss when Rich get’s his crystal ball out and gazes into it for 2022. 

Guest Bio

Richard Weiss is senior vice president and chief investment officer, Multi-Asset Strategies for American Century Investments.

Mr. Weiss oversees the team that manages the firm's multi-asset strategies, including the One Choice (Target Risk and Target Date) Portfolios^®, Strategic Allocation and investments offered in the Learning Quest^® 529 Education Savings Program. He also serves as a member of the American Century Investments Asset Allocation Committee, which is responsible for establishing investment policy and reviewing investment decisions for all of the firm's multi-asset products.

Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Mr. Weiss was executive vice president and chief investment officer of City National Bank, where he was responsible for the bank's investment management group and directed investment policy and strategy. Previously, he was executive vice president and chief investment officer at Sanwa Bank California, where he managed all aspects of their investment department. Earlier in his career, Mr. Weiss held senior investment positions at Vantage Global Advisors, TSA Capital Management, PaineWebber and Mellon Bank.

An investment veteran with over 35 years of experience, Mr. Weiss holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He has authored several academic papers and is well known for his advanced work in the field of global investing. Mr. Weiss is also a frequent guest on CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Fox Business and Bloomberg Radio.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

If you like 90’s movies references, if your curious about who TINA is and you want some good perspective on what is going on with the markets and economy, we have a great show for you today. Joining me is Adam Philips, CFA & CFP, Managing Director for Portfolio Strategy at EP Wealth. Great stuff, hopefully you learn as much as I did! 

As a reminder, if you are not subscribed to the podcast, do that today. You can go to your favorite podcast app and search 401(k) Fridays, or go to 401kfridays.com/subscribe and take care of it there. 

Guest BIo:

Adam Philips is the Managing Director, Portfolio Strategy / Partner at EP Wealth Advisors® where he helps establish asset allocation strategy as a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. Adam also serves as the voice of the firm’s investment strategy, and frequently provides market commentary across the media and in client communication pieces. Prior to joining EP Wealth Advisors® in 2014, Adam served as a Senior Portfolio Manager at City National Rochdale in Beverly Hills, where he specialized in research and portfolio construction while overseeing nearly $700 million on behalf of high-net-worth individuals, foundations, and trusts. Adam holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), and earned his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA). In addition, Adam holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designations, and is a member of the CFA Society of Los Angeles and the CFA Institute. Adam was named to the Forbes Best-in-State Next Gen Wealth Advisors in 2019. Adam lives in Palos Verdes with his wife and two children, Hunter and Madison.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Over the years on the podcast we have talked about the generational preferences and trends of baby boomers, Gen X’rs and Millenials, But not Generation Z. To dig into them, I am happy to welcome back Nathan Voris, Director, Investments, Insights & Consultant Services at Schwab Retirement Plan Services. While the focus is on Gen Z, there are some great observations about financial stress, financial wellness, the financial impact of the pandemic and much more. We also really strive to tie these themes together in a way that can help employers better position services they offer today to attract and retain employees in a hyper competitive market for talent, or maybe this is encouragement to revisit these topics as you look forward. Regardless, good stuff and great input from Nathan. 

Guest Bio

Nathan Voris joined Charles Schwab in 2016 and leads the Investments, Insights and Consultant Services teams within Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc.

In this role, Voris brings together multiple teams with shared expertise to develop and enhance partnerships with the Consultant and Advisor community. Prior to his current position, he led the Strategy and Planning team for Schwab Workplace Financial Services, which includes Compliance Solutions, Schwab Retirement Plan Services and Schwab Stock Plan Services.

Voris brings 20+ years of experience in the financial services and retirement plan industries to his role. Prior to Charles Schwab, he worked for Morningstar, where he held several roles within Morningstar Investment Management, and as a retirement plan consultant at R.V. Kuhns & Associates. He began his career as a plan sponsor, working for Walmart and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

Voris earned a bachelor's degree in education from The Ohio State University.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

As part of the evolving conversation around infrastructure and how to pay for it, some potential changes to workplace retirement plans were injected into the conversation. To shed some light on the topic I am happy to welcome back Sam Henson, a Senior Vice President and Chief Client Officer for Lockton Retirement Services. While it is anyone’s guess on what will happen with infrastructure, the important things to take away from our conversation today are the thematic changes to workplace retirement plans that we included in the spending bill. While these may or may not become reality, like in the game of poker, this serves as a pretty good tell on what changes could be debated in the future. 

Guest Bio

Samuel Henson, JD is the Chief Client Officer for Lockton Retirement Services. Lockton is the world's largest privately held insurance brokerage firm. Sam oversees ERISA compliance, DOL/IRS/SEC/PBGC activities, and the legislative landscape for more than 50,000 Lockton clients and 7,000 associates. Our associates use a comprehensive approach as a consultative partner in the areas of regulatory and legislative compliance, investment, pension risk management and vendor management. I would like to connect with other industry-related professionals including attorneys, in-house counsel, compliance officers and government officials.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

For years I have been using Vanguard’s annual “How America Saves” as a reference guide for retirement plan statistics and benchmarks. Today, I am excited to welcome Jeff Clark, a Senior Product Owner in Vanguard’s Strategic Retirement Consulting group and the lead author of How America Saves as well as other retirement research initiatives. As you might expect, this episode focusses on plan design, some statistics, its importance, trends and a few popular topics or ideas that have been discussed where the data does not exactly pan out. I learned a lot, I hope you do as well. 

Before we get started, thank you to our listeners who have shared engaged with us on social media. Most of what we post is on LinkedIn, next time you are on there, feel free to share a podcast episode you have enjoyed, or like or comment on a post we create. That goes a long way to helping more people discover the podcast and helps me attract great guests like Jeff. 

Guest Bio

It's been a little while since we have had an episode to discuss what is going on in the world of 401(k) litigation. To dive into that, I am happy to welcome back Carl Engstrom, plaintiff’s attorney with Nichols Kaster to the podcast. As usual, Carl brings a very thoughtful and informed view on what is going on with 401(k) litigation, his thoughts on why some cases move towards settlement and others are dismissed, and the inevitable question of where things go from here. Buckle up, this episode moves fast and covers a lot of ground. I hope you enjoy!

Guest Bio

Carl is the subject matter expert and origination specialist on Nichols Kaster’s ERISA Litigation Team. As a founding member of the ERISA litigation group, Mr. Engstrom has worked in some capacity on every case brought by the group since its inception in 2015.  In that time, the ERISA litigation group has negotiated settlements totaling over $150 million on behalf of retirement plan participants shortchanged by excessive fees and imprudent retirement plan investments. Before joining Nichols Kaster, Mr. Engstrom clerked for judges at both the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Hennepin County District Court.  Prior to entering the legal profession, Mr. Engstrom spent six years working as a financial advisor, providing retirement and investment advice to hundreds of clients, and earning the Certified Financial Planner™ designation.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Things are moving fast in the financial markets and economy. In turbulent times, the decisions you do or don’t make have a big impact on the future success of your retirement plan. To help digest some macro events and share a few 401(k) panic buttons to avoid, I am happy to welcome Jamie Battmer, Chief Investment Officer for Lockton Retirement Services to the podcast. I won’t steal Jamies thunder, but let’s just say I learned a lot of hope you get as much out of it as I did. 

Guest Bio

Jamie leads the investment research team that recommends portfolios to Lockton clients. His other duties include consulting, speaking, and writing on market and economic trends, providing fiduciary documentation on investment decision-making,
and developing new asset-management tools and capabilities, such as model portfolios or custom-asset allocation glide-paths.

Jamie has more than 20 years of experience analyzing individual securities, constructing portfolios, and providing economic and market commentary.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

Save for retirement or save for college? This is the age old debate that many struggle with. To shed some light on the subject I am happy to welcome Peg Creonte, President of Government Savings at Acensus. During our conversation we delve into some of the similarities and differences between 529 plans and 401(k) plans, ways that employers as part of their total rewards or benefits offering can help their employees save or pay for the cost of higher eduction and offer input on whether an employer can match contributions to a 529 plan. Great stuff, I learned a lot and it was a trip down memory lane for me in a way as well. 

Guest Bio

Peg Creonte is president of Government Savings at Ascensus, the largest independent recordkeeping services provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator in the United States. 

Peg is responsible for setting the vision and strategy for the firm’s Government Savings line of business and charting its course for future growth. She joined Ascensus in 2004 and has served in leadership roles across business development, platform development, and system implementation. Peg has also led and managed several large 529 and ABLE program client conversions. 

Prior to Ascensus, she held leadership and consulting roles in software and semiconductor firms. Peg holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Cornell University. 

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!

What does the future hold for 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans? Good question, and I am excited to have Josh Cohen, Head of Institutional Defined Contribution at PGIM and the host of the podcast “The Accidental Plan Sponsor” join me today. We take a few minutes to set the stage with some important retirement plan trends and milestones, then we jump into where we go from here. Josh shares the good, as well as where he things workplace retirement plans can improve in the future. Good stuff, and hope you get as much out of the conversation as I did!

Guest Bio

Joshua R. Cohen, CFA, is a Managing Director in PGIM’s Institutional Relationship Group (IRG). Josh provides expert counsel and thought leadership to large Defined Contribution plans on investment issues ranging from plan design, Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIA), implications of regulatory change and implementation. He works on developing innovative solutions and thought leadership to help plan participants accumulate the wealth needed for their retirement.

Highly regarded throughout the industry and a recognized DC thought leader, Josh served a three-year term (2013-2015) as a member of the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council on policies and regulations affecting employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. In 2016, Josh was identified by Chief Investment Officer (CIO) magazine as one of the world’s most influential investment thought leaders by being named to the annual Knowledge Brokers list. This marked the fourth consecutive year he received this recognition. 

Josh earned his BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

401(k) Fridays Podcast Overview

Struggling with a fiduciary issue, looking for strategies to improve employee retirement outcomes or curious about the impact of current events on your retirement plan? We've had conversations with retirement industry leaders to address these and other relevant topics! You can easily explore over 200 prior on-demand audio interviews here. Don't forget to subscribe as we release a new episode each Friday!