Alongside the 2020 NAPA 401(k) Cyber Summit, we sat down (virtually) with a number of leading advisors for some insights on how they got started, what keeps them going, and what they see for the future of retirement and their practice(s).
First up: Kristina P. Keck, Vice President, Retirement Plan Services at Woodruff Sawyer.
Background: Keck helps lead Woodruff Sawyer’s Retirement Plan Practice, with more than 20 years of experience in the corporate pension and the investment industry. An Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF©), she is responsible for ensuring that plan goals are met and that clients are kept abreast of new and creative strategies. She has been recognized as one of San Francisco magazine‘s Five Star Wealth Managers—and one of NAPA’s Top Women Retirement Plan Advisors.
NN: Kristina, what led you to become an advisor?
Keck: I joined the Air Force right out of high school. Spent seven years on active duty most of the time as a trainer in command and control—a pretty process-oriented career. When I got out, I put my resume together and walked into various businesses to drop it off and see if they were hiring.
One of the offices was a Northwestern Mutual office across the street from our apartment. The district agent loved my military experience and especially my training background. He gave me the Al Granum 10-3-1 Clientbuilder training material and hired me to train new agents. I quickly recognized I could be more successful on the agent/advisor side. So, I switched gears and became an advisor.
NN: What’s the hardest question you’ve been asked by a plan sponsor?
Keck: “Do you have a college degree?”—from the CFO of my largest client at the time. As it turned out, I was close to finished on a finance degree. As I began my explanation—“life happens—and I did not get a chance to finish it. Husband, kids, reactivated post 9-11 in the Air National Guard, and then building a practice…”—he quickly cut me off and stated that his top people, C suite even, did not necessarily graduate from college and not to worry about it. They hired me for my investment experience and fiduciary background. That was probably 15 years ago. Funny, I have not been asked that again.
NN: What’s the biggest challenge facing you as an advisor today?
Keck: Trying to stay a true retirement plan consultant. Fee compression has really hit a lot of teams hard, so they seem to be branching out into the wealth management world, health savings accounts, etc. We worked to create scale so that we can stay true, stay the course and stay focused and still be profitable. That and continuing to bring value to the client and show up in different ways. GRP does help a lot with that.
NN: What/who inspires you?
Keck: My father. He has been in the financial services industry as an advisor since I was two. I remember going to his office on weekends to help stamp client mail, do various menial tasks, and of course color on the whiteboard. He was actually the one who told me that NML has one of the top training programs. “Get your experience there and then go out on your own” was great advice from a sage mentor. He still practices at age 79 and has a very faithful client following. One of his best “daddyisms” is: “If you are not the lead dog, the scenery never changes.”
NN: What do you love most about being an advisor?
Keck: Helping participants—absolutely that. Committee meetings and the other “big rocks” as I call them are required. But what is needed is better participant engagement. Even though I am the practice leader, I still do education, webinars, take participant calls. It is my favorite thing I get to do.
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