The 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisory 2008

existing clients and interacting with prospective clients. He noted that the Hylant Group often is engaged by companies seeking to be unique and different with their plan design. Before joining the Hylant Group in May 2001, Kennedy was a defined contribution and investment consultant at Investment, Inc., in Ohio for nearly two years. He also was a financial advisor at Prudential Securities in Denver from December 1997 to August 1998, a 401(k) client service representative at Great West Life & Annuity Insurance from September 1997 to December 1997 and an investor service representative at Janus Funds from September 1995 to September 1997. Going forward, Kennedy envisions leading a team of six to 10 professionals focused on making the Hylant Group’s clients successful. “Two of these team members will be new business producers – one for the institutional side and the other focused on individuals – and the remaining team will be devoted to the service of our clients,” he explained. “Service is the critical piece to our success now, and it will be even more crucial as we continue to grow.” While he expects to be busy in the market, Kennedy doesn’t expect to be servicing ‘401(k) plans’ in the future. “Loads of change will continue to dominate the industry, and I envision the term ‘401(k)’ no longer being used,” he said. “I also see changes in terms of investments, with more utilization of collective trusts, exchange-traded funds and index funds. The retirement savings world will continue to evolve to be more defined benefit-like, where employers will be driven to provide guidance or make certain they engage advisors who can assist.” An Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Kennedy also maintained that health savings accounts could become competition to retirement savings. “There is no doubt the current employer-sponsored savings environment is in turmoil, and lots of change should happen in the next 10 years to protect people from living without income at retirement,” he asserted. SEPTEMBER 2008 12. SEAN KING Partner and President Retirement Plan Consultants, Knoxville, Tenn. Age: 38 Education: University of Tennessee College of Law (J.D. in Entrepreneurial Law); University of Tennessee (MAcc in Taxation; B.S. in Business Administration) Mentor: Kyla Keck, Chief Executive Officer, Retirement Plan Consultants; Thomas King, Principal, Blue Chip Financial Advisors; Randy Long, Principal, SageView Advisory Group King grew up around the financial services industry, with a father who worked as a general agent for MassMutual and other large life insurance companies. While his father encouraged him to enter the financial services business, he also pushed him to pursue higher education and a law degree.“Once I started working in financial services, I was quickly drawn to the retirement plan industry – at least in part because that’s where accounting, law and financial services intersect,” he said. King quickly turned his experience at his father’s knee and his formal education into a successful career. After finishing law school in 1996, he launched Retirement Plan Consultants with partner Timothy Sykes. “My biggest professional accomplishment has been to partner with Tim Sykes and Kyla Keck to build a profitable, sustainable business that provides a very nice living to nearly 40 employees,” he said. Retirement Plan Consultants serves thousands of participants and plan sponsors across 17 states, representing some $400 million in plan assets. Simultaneously, he also is a managing director for the Southeast region at SageView Advisory Group, where he performs investment advisory and ERISA consulting work – something he plans to be doing on a more national scale in 10 years’ time. Prior to his role at SageView, he was a senior vice president at Willis from January 2005 to December 2006 and a registered representative for MassMutual from 1996 to 2004. King expects to see consolidation among service providers within the next decade. “First, clients will willingly pay fees, but only to those firms that can demonstrate significant value,” he said, “and only larger firms will have the resources to do so. Second, fee revenue will come under continued pressure as a result of increased disclosure, and only larger firms will have the economies of scale necessary to maintain profitability in that environment. In short, the days when any average stockbroker or insurance agent could successfully work in the qualified plan market, without specializing in it, will have passed.” 13. C. TODD LACEY Managing Partner The (k)larity Group, Athens, Ga. Age: 31 Education: Miami University of Ohio (B.S. in Psychology) Mentors: Kent Callahan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Transamerica Retirement Services Lacey founded The (k)larity Group in January 2007, less than 10 years after earning his college degree. Before starting up the independent retirement plan consulting firm, he worked as a regional sales director at Transamerica Retirement Services from July 1998 to April 2004 and as a director of retirement plan consulting at the Wealth Management Group from May 2004 to December 2006. “I had two objectives when I was looking for a profession: to help people and to be financially successful,” Lacey said. “I was lucky to end up in the retirement RETIREMENT PLAN ADVISORY RISING STARS 29

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