The inaugural industry Advisory Board for the fledgling Retirement Income Style Awareness (RISA) assessment is filled with familiar names of thought leaders and innovators from the retirement income industry.
John Faustino, Bonnie Treichel, Ryan Beach, David Lau, Kelly Waltrich and Michael Finke make up inaugural Advisory Board for the Retirement Income Style Awareness assessment
Founded by retirement income authorities Alex Murguia and Wade Pfau, the RISA, a 15-minute assessment for individuals actively planning for or engaging with retirement, helps financial advisors understand the ideal way each client would like to source retirement income. The idea is to enable advisors to define and implement personalized retirement income planning strategies aligned with individual preferences.
Set to go to market in January 2023, the RISA is a psychology-backed, research-driven income personality assessment. The intuitive survey considers a variety of factors related to an individual’s feelings about security, flexibility, reliance on market returns, and preference for contractual guarantees to define their tolerance for income risk during decumulation.
With industry interest in and excitement for the RISA’s capabilities growing, Murguia and Pfau said in a release announcing the new Advisory Board that they sought expertise, feedback and ongoing insights from tenured fintech and financial services leaders to amplify opportunities and further refine the product.
The first members of the RISA Advisory Board include:
• John Faustino, Head of Broadridge Fi360 Solutions, Broadridge’s fiduciary education and technology business. Faustino, a visionary in the retirement income space, also founded the Retirement Income Consortium.
• Ryan Beach, President of Orion Wealth Management, who has been instrumental in helping Orion become a fintech industry powerhouse, brings deep expertise working with a variety of wealth management firms to the Advisory Board.
• David Lau, founder and CEO of DPL Financial Partners, a legendary financial services innovator leading the charge in bringing awareness to the different retirement income solutions available to advisors and their consumers, and removing fee barriers to their adoption.
• Kelly Waltrich, co-founder and CEO of Intention.ly and serial CMO whose strategic guidance and marketing ingenuity have accelerated growth for financial technology companies spanning start-ups to established enterprises.
• Bonnie Treichel, founder and Chief Solutions Officer of Endeavor Retirement, who brings both experience as an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) attorney and as a retirement plan advisor to the RISA Advisory Board.
• Michael Finke, Ph.D., Professor of Wealth Management and Frank M. Engle Distinguished Chair in Economic Security Research at The American College of Financial Services, who is considered one of the top five researchers in the retirement income space.
“I’m thrilled to serve as a member of the RISA Advisory Board,” said Ryan Beach. “Through a pilot program with RISA, Orion’s advisors have had the opportunity to make this innovative retirement income assessment available to their clients. I’ve seen firsthand the impact of the tool on an advisor’s ability to guide clients to better retirement outcomes by adding personalization and deeper understanding to the retirement income strategy conversation.”
In addition to Orion, the RISA has facilitated successful pilot programs with PacLife and DPL, and along with an additional 80 piloting advisors, 2,000 RISAs have been completed.
“Certainly, the mission behind the RISA aligns perfectly with my goal at DPL of enabling advisors’ awareness of and access to different retirement income strategies in service of their clients’ needs, goals and preferences,” said David Lau, Advisory Board member. “It’s a privilege to be part of the retirement income revolution Alex and Wade are spearheading.”
Recently, Pfau has brought the RISA story to the main stage at industry events hosted by C2 Financial, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, the Wealth Management Symposium and the Financial Planning Association.
“I’m so passionate about what Alex and I are building here, along with the brilliant minds that we’re so grateful to have on our Advisory Board,” Pfau said. “Together, we can help advisors create a truly differentiated experience for their clients by empowering a deeply personalized approach to generating retirement income and ultimately achieving retirement goals.”
The RISA, which Murguia and Pfau say has been garnering exceptional feedback from advisors through its original beta launch and the aforementioned pilot programs, is expected to become available to the broader market in January of 2023.
“We want to do more than simply give advisors access to the RISA,” Murguia said. “We see ourselves as true partners to these professionals who are acting in the best interests of their clients. Wade and I will be there every step of the way to help maximize the impact RISA can have on both their clients’ retirement outcomes and their own firms.”
In support of the January launch, Pfau and Murguia are hosting a two-day masterclass webinar series on January 23-24, which will also kick off the start of a 4- to 6-week cohort training program, additional Q&A sessions, and open office hours. For more information or to sign up for the webinar, click here.
SEE ALSO:
• Surprising Findings About Participant Retirement Income Perceptions: Invesco’s Greg Jenkins
• Retirement Income Planning: Consumers Want It, Advisors Want to Learn More About It
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
