Adviser-recordkeeper relationships have long been dynamic, and presently, many advisers have a growing need from recordkeepers for greater client service capabilities. Panelists speaking on PLANADVISER’s June 10 webinar, “The Recordkeeping Landscape,” weighed in on what makes a recordkeeping partnership a success and how they see the landscape evolving.
According to panelist Sean Bjork, the president of Bjork Asset Management, the perfect number of recordkeepers for an adviser to work with is three to four. While Bjork currently works with seven, he said fewer recordkeepers would allow him to have “a more streamlined set of relationships.”
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George Fraser, founder and chief revenue officer of GigMatch, said he once met an adviser who worked with 27 recordkeepers, but Fraser prefers working with three to four recordkeepers and finding consistent providers.
“In looking for who I wanted to work with, I was looking for a champion who could support me, and that really came from my 401(k) wholesaler,” Fraser said.
Kelli Send, co-founder and senior vice president of financial wellness services at Francis LLC, said her firm deals with 14 recordkeepers and is typically willing to work with a new client’s previous recordkeeper, but admitted her firm had “stronger relationships with some, and that leads to a little bit better service.”
The panelists agreed that quality beats out quantity when it comes to recordkeeper relationships, noting the benefits of having one point of contact for multiple plans.
“When we’re working together, pulling data, it becomes very difficult to work with five people in the same organization to ask the same questions,” Send said. “It’s probably not very efficient for them, either.”
Asked what advisers need from recordkeepers to feel fully supported, panelists said advisers valued smooth communication, efficient client service and having the ability to focus on clients’ needs.
“What makes … a strong partner is the client service,” said Bjork. “If they have that service capability, I think that relationship’s going to work really well.”
Competition or Cooperation?
Recordkeepers are also expanding their client capabilities and moving into service areas traditionally associated with financial advisers. The webinar cited exclusive data from the upcoming 2026 PLANSPONSOR Recordkeeping Survey, which will be released on June 16 by PLANADVISER’s sister publication, which found that many of the 36 responding recordkeepers reported offering proprietary financial products, including those for emergency savings (58%), corporate trustee services (54%), student loan repayment (41%) and health savings accounts (38%).
Eighty percent offered investment or market analysis, 63% offered defined contribution lead generation and one-third offered nonproprietary portfolio management tools.
Many recordkeepers also provided one-on-one financial counseling, including for financial goal-setting (60%), student loan repayment (55%), personal and household budgeting (50%), consumer debt management (44%) and financial crisis management (42%).
The webinar speakers said advisers need to be cautious of the significant amount of financial guidance capabilities offered by recordkeepers.
“Advisers [and] recordkeeping partners are aligned in that our goal is to better serve the plan participant and meet them where they’re at … to get somebody to the finish line,” Bjork said. “If we are all aligned that that is our goal, we need to be able to work better and not necessarily trip all over ourselves in certain market segments to compete against each other.”
Fraser noted that some recordkeepers claiming to offer free or low-cost education to participants were sending solicitors focused on selling additional products, which he said was “not appropriate.”
“We need to understand how people are paid in this industry,” Fraser said. “[If] there’s money being made in other places, it needs to be fully disclosed.”
Panelists reassured webinar attendees that with the right communication and coordination, recordkeepers’ expanded services could provide greater benefits for clients.
“It is amazing that they can solve more workplace challenges for our collective mutual clients. Think emergency savings, HSA, stuff like that … one provider, one system,” Send said. “As long as they’re doing a great job and everybody’s satisfied and the service is good, I think that’s wonderful.”
“The Recordkeeping Landscape” webinar, sponsored by Human Interest, is available to watch on demand.
