Client Relationship Consultant

FuturePlan is the nation’s largest third-party administrator (TPA) of retirement plans, partnering with advisors in all 50 states. FuturePlan delivers the best of both worlds: high-touch personalized service from local TPAs backed by the strength and security of a large national firm, Ascensus. Our roots go back decades, with nearly 30 outstanding legacy firms now joined together to deliver unmatched levels of service, innovation and expertise to a fast-growing client base from coast to coast. The FuturePlan team includes more than 500 credentialed plan professionals, 60 actuaries, and one of the industry’s largest in-house ERISA teams. Learn more at FuturePlan.com.

Section 1: Position Summary

The Client Relationship Manager acts as the primary point of contact for clients, advisors, and strategic business partners. They are responsible for a book of retirement plan clients, building and maintaining strong client relationships, identifying and resolving complex plan issues, coordinating with internal specialists to ensure services are delivered accurately and on time, and identifying opportunities to drive business growth.

The successful candidate will combine deep retirement plan expertise with strong communication and relationship management skills to support client retention, enhance client satisfaction, identify additional service opportunities, and drive profitable growth. As a trusted resource to clients and their professional service providers, the Client Relationship Manager stays ahead of industry, regulatory, and business changes that may impact retirement plans and provides thoughtful, solution-oriented recommendations.

This position offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact by helping retirement plan sponsors achieve their goals, navigate complex plan issues, and deliver successful outcomes while contributing to the overall success of the organization.

Section 2: Job Functions, Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Retain all existing profitable clients and prevent attrition.
• Work to improve profitability of non-profitable clients by increasing fees or helping them find a new consulting firm.
• Offer Annual Client Review for all clients. If requested by client, complete with a formal conference call or virtual video meeting. 
• Watch for changes of the clients’ needs and expectations.
• Watch for changes taking place within clients’ firm.
• Be the main contact for our clients, advisors, CPAs and attorneys who are involved with the plans for strategic plan issues.
• Be the first to be contacted by a client when they have consulting/strategic issues regarding the plans.
• Identify and define clients’ problems. Listen for problems that client is facing and find a way to provide appropriate solutions for them.
• Seek out consulting opportunities by always looking for openings to provide additional services and bill for those services.
• Be proactive and contact clients regarding upcoming events or issues, including changes at vendors and changes in the law and regulations that may affect their plans.
• Work with an assigned Specialist(s) to get Normal Recurring Services done within our service standards.
• Follow-up on data, trust, documents, etc. necessary to complete the work in a timely fashion and minimize rushes.
• Work with assigned Specialist and/or Compliance Team subgroups (e.g., loan and withdrawals, plan documents, etc.) to get Other Services done by agreed upon due date with client.
• Provide answers and solutions to problems that Specialists encounter.
• Manage a book of business as defined in your annual goal.
• Ensure client service (fee) agreements are up-to-date.
• Complete billing (write-ups, write-offs and approvals) within 5 business days of receipt from Accounting. All billing, including adjustment forms, should be done via paperless processes.
• Identify and determine the write-up/write-off amounts. Bill toward the budget of normal recurring services and other services appropriately.
• Prepare Client Authorization Forms for additional special service projects as needed.
• Collect billing by working with Accounting. Monitor the Aging report and follow up when talking with the client about outstanding invoices. Ideal days-sales-outstanding (DSO) is less than 35 days.
• Keep up to date of all aspects of retirement plan and/or investment consulting by reading circulated emails and papers on technical/investment issues.
• Suggest ideas to improve our processes. Discuss challenges that you face with your supervisor at any time. Suggest constructive solutions to those challenges. Share your ideas amongst your peers.
• Attend scheduled One-to-One meetings with your leader on a monthly or quarterly basis.
• Provide back up to other teams as necessary.
• Other work as assigned via Committees and/or Taskforces.

Sales

• Promote/sell additional special services to existing clients.
• Direct prospects to sales team to close new business, as needed.
• Attend meetings/seminars to build relationships with influential people.
• If defined in annual goals, close an agreed amount of first year billings from new clients.
• Assist with other tasks and projects as assigned.

General

• Responsible for protecting, securing, and proper handling of all confidential data held by Ascensus to ensure against unauthorized access, improper transmission, and/or unapproved disclosure of information that could result in harm to Ascensus or our clients.
• At Ascensus we are guided by our Core Values of People Matter, Quality First and Integrity Always®. They inspire us every day to prioritize an environment of respect for those we serve and one another and should be visible in your actions on a day-to-day.

Supervision  

• N/A

Section 3:  Experience, Skills, Knowledge Requirements

• At least three years of hands-on client consulting on all aspects of actuarial administrative tasks. Includes excellent understanding of funding methods and being able to explain information contained within actuarial valuations, PBGC filings, AFTAP certifications, etc.
• At least three years of hands-on experience with defined contribution (401(k)) plans, including record keeping and vendor issues if working primarily with defined contribution plans.
• Excellent understanding of plan administration, compliance testing and pension law.
• May have to travel via car to visit clients.
• May have to travel via car or airplane to visit clients outside of local area where an overnight stay is required.
• May have to work up to 2 days per week in a corporate office based on location and distance from office.
• Good business sense to understand clients’ business needs.
• Team player
• Self-motivated
• Comfortable working with numbers
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including on the phone and presentation skills
• Excellent delegation skills
• Excellent computer skills in Excel, Word and Outlook
• Intermediate sales/negotiation skills
• B.A./B.S. preferred
• Working towards ASPPA’s CPC designation preferred.
• If working on DB plans, have knowledge base of an Enrolled Actuary (EA) – EA
• undefined 

For all virtual remote positions, in order to ensure associates can effectively perform their job duties with no distractions, we require an uninterrupted virtual workspace and there is also an expectation of family care being in place during business hours. Additionally, there is an internet work speed requirement of 25 Mbps or better for individual use. If more than one person is utilizing the same internet connection in the same household or building, then a stronger connection is required. If you are unsure of your internet speed, please check with your service provider. Note: For call center roles specifically, it is a requirement to either hardwire your equipment directly to the internet router or ensure your workstation is in close proximity to the router. Please ensure that you are able to meet these expectations before applying. 

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer

Be aware of employment fraud. All email communications from Ascensus or its hiring managers originate from @ascensus.com or @futureplan.com email addresses. We will never ask you for payment or require you to purchase any equipment. If you are suspicious or unsure about validity of a job posting, we strongly encourage you to apply directly through our website.