The 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisors 2007 - (Page 25) 1 3 VERONICA PAREDES 2 1 Vice President, Client Services Age: 36 401(k) Advisors, Aliso Viejo, Calif. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., History Mentor: Vince Giovinazzo, CEO, 401(k) Advisors Paredes has $4 billion in advisory assets. Her duties include comprehensive retirement plan advice including investment due diligence, provider benchmarking and searches, employee communication and fiduciary oversight. She is responsible for maintaining accountability for all services to clients and manages eight plan consultants and three communications specialists. Paredes began her career in 1997 as an administrative assistant at Great-West Retirement Services. She was promoted to bilingual communication specialist that year and moved her into retirement planning as an advisor. In 2000, Paredes joined 401(k) Advisors as a plan consultant. She was promoted to working with larger clients. As a member of the senior management team, she helped produce several white papers on understanding plan fees, employer stock, and the “skill premium” among investment managers. She has spoken at company conferences for clients each year. Paredes believes that lifestyle and lifecycle funds present an interesting challenge to fiduciaries. "Plan Sponsors need to balance the favorable pending regulations with the complexities and issues involved in evaluating and monitoring them. Traditional benchmarks are not effective in monitoring these funds due to their varied and gradually changing allocations to multiple asset classes. We have developed a customized solution for our clients that helps them address these issues." 1 4 PAUL L. POWELL 1 Managing Director 401k Advisors, Dothan, Ala. Age: 35 Education: Troy University, B.S., Accounting & Business Administration Mentor: David Perkins, former co-owner, CapTrust Financial Advisors Powell assists plan sponsors to establish the retirement plan committee, including its structure and documentation, investment policy statement drafts and more. He implements plan design reviews, negotiates fees and conducts vendor request for proposals. Powell currently has $807 million in advisory assets under management. He began at Merrill Lynch as an advisor in 1997. In 2001, he joined regional investment advisory firm CapSouth Partners. In 2006, he left to join 401k Advisors, a full service consulting firm. He has the Accredited Investment Fiduciary, PLANSPONSOR Retirement Professional and Professional Plan Consultant designations. He has spoken on PLANSPONSOR’s “Plan Designs” panels in 2006 and 2007. He will be speaking at PLANSPONSOR’S annual Plan Advisors conference in September in Orlando. He has written several articles for the American Society of Association Executives in 2004 and 2005 and has been published twice by Profit Sharing Council of America’s newsletter, the biggest lobby organization for plan sponsors, in 2005 and 2007. Powell published a white paper on 401(k) fees and revenue sharing in 2005 for industry magazine Employee Benefit News. “One problem is that plan sponsors are purchasing services for participants with participant dollars without understanding how those services are priced, or how the pricing model affects fees over time. Plan sponsors are going to have to seek outside assistance when they are negotiating with providers in order fulfill their fiduciary requirements.” SEPTEMBER 2007 RETIREMENT PLAN ADVISORS RISING STARS 25
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