Jeffery Acheson, CPWA, CFP, CPFA, AIF, CEPA, and NQPA has plenty of industry designations. Yet far from alphabet soup to line a business card, they’re academically rigorous and actually mean something.
“If 401k advisors are smart about it, they can be at the forefront and driving the whole thing.”
It’s that last one, the Nonqualified Plan Advisor (NQPA) Credential, on which the Chief Business Development Officer with Tampa, Fla.-based Independent Financial Partners (IFP) and the CEO of the Advanced Strategies Group is focused.
He took a leading educational role at the NAPA Nonqualified Plan Advisor Conference in Chicago over the weekend, having previously passed the NQPA exam to become NQPA 001.
Acheson, a past NAPA president, (very effectively) mixed his metaphors in describing the credential and the program’s genesis.
He called the NQPA part of an “elegantly integrated ecosystem” for the delivery of financial advice and planning, crediting Franklin Templeton Senior Vice President Kevin Murphy with developing the phrase.
“Everybody is trying to build an Apple-esque type of ecosystem, where it’s a little bit like the Hotel California, ‘Once you check-in, there is no need to check out,’” he said, botching the lyric but making his point.
The ecosystem includes:
- The qualified plan, which includes financial wellness (but beyond what’s currently available, which he called financial wokeness)
- Nonqualified planning and plans
- Business succession/exit planning
- Financial planning and wealth management
But it’s non-qualified solutions that are too often overlooked.
“Back when I became NAPA president in 2018, I worked with [ARA CEO] Brian Graff, and I said, ‘Look, there’s one area that nobody is teaching anymore,'” Acheson noted. “It’s non-qualified deferred compensation plans and how they play into small business, large business, and corporate America. He said, ‘Let’s do it,’ so I wrote NQPA Part One – Fundamentals which became a NAPA certificate program. Based on its success, this year, I wrote, and NAPA launched, Part Two – Advanced Planning, to turn the certificate program into a full-blown designation.”
Fueled by the ‘Great Liberation’
Claiming the pandemic and resulting Great Resignation (which he called the Great Liberation) accelerated what’s happening in the non-qualified plan space, it’s now more mainstream, especially for small to midsize businesses “looking to lock down their talent.”
“We have a tremendous buzz going on in the industry and amongst the NAPA membership, and it’s crossing over into the ASPPA membership. We’ve also received inquiries from CPA firms because this is an area everybody’s dealing with.”
There’s so much buzz that the Chicago conference sold out.
Once again referencing the ecosystem, he added that a reason for so much M&A activity recently is to “cross-pollinate” across lines of business.
“Morgan Stanley recently bought American Financial Systems, a non-qualified plan record-keeping system. It wasn’t because Morgan Stanley wanted to be a non-qualified plan record keeper. I suspect they’re looking for the wealth management that will come out of that.”
He noted Ascensus and its Newport Group acquisition, claiming that part of what it bought was its non-qualified platform and plans. He also pointed to Empower and Prudential’s retirement plan business, again noting that part of the sale was the latter’s non-qualified plan platform.
“Whether you are a NAPA Advisor or an ASPPA TPA, you don’t have to become a non-qualified plan TPA, but you should know this market because it could be additional revenue and help you build a moat around your qualified plan business,” Acheson concluded. “This non-qualified thing is unexplored territory for most. Those who have been doing it for a long time are aging out. COVID, the talent war, and the Great Liberation are hot topics. If 401k advisors are smart about it, they can be at the forefront, driving the whole thing, and NAPA wants to support that effort.”
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
