Leading Women in the Retirement Industry
Embracing & Anticipating Change
Alice Hocking, COO, Diversified Investment Advisors
PS: What have you learned from the challenges and successes you’ve xperienced over the course of your career? Hocking: Having been with Diversified for 24 years, I’ve been fortunate to grow and evolve with the firm. I began my career in our call center and moved up within the organization. I certainly learned that, in order to be successful in your personal life or at work, particularly in this industry, you have to embrace change. There has been so much change in our industry over the past 20 years, ranging from legislative and education to the services that we provide our plan sponsors. The ability to embrace this change has been one of the greatest lessons I have learned and has contributed to my overall success.
PS: In keeping with the theme of change,
what do you consider to be the most
important change that has occurred in
the industry to date?
Hocking: From my standpoint, the most
significant change that we’ve seen is the
new 403(b) regulations. Having legislation,
for the first time, that specifically addresses
the needs of 403(b) clients, has had a huge
impact on our business. These regulations
encourage better information sharing
among competitors. If you did not have the
technology, systems, and the people in place
to make those changes quickly, you would
find yourself left behind. Additionally, the
emphasis today on open architecture, full-fee disclosure, and participant education are
very important changes to the retirement
plan landscape.
PS: Can you draw any parallels between
the evolution of your career at Diversified
and that of the firm?
Hocking: When you’ve been with any
organization long enough, there are a lot
of parallels. When I started in the pension
industry as a call center representative,
Diversified wasn’t the leader it is today.
So, in many ways, I feel as if we both have
grown up together. Diversified has always
viewed its employees as its greatest asset
and encouraged employees to help build and
improve upon our business model. I believe I
have certainly benefited from our culture of
employee engagement and, as a result, have
grown with the organization.
PS: How confident are you that Americans
can get back on track with being prepared
for a secure retirement? How is Diversified
helping with this?
Hocking: I’m not sure that Americans
were ever on track. Given how volatile the
state of the financial markets has been, I
think one positive is that this volatility has
emphasized the need for individuals to
be more financially literate. Our industry
can’t just expect that, because we provide
valuable information to plan participants
and plan sponsors, individuals will achieve
their retirement goals. Our approach has to
be much more action-oriented to encourage
action to be taken.
At Diversified, ongoing participant education
and communication revolve around a
common goal: to help plan participants
achieve a fully funded retirement. Our
curriculum is designed to help participants
continually take stock of where they are
and take action to get closer to that goal. We
believe a curriculum that both educates and
motivates employees to take steps necessary
to prepare for a secure retirement is critical
to fully funding retirement. We utilize a
Retirement Outlook tool, which depicts how
much of a participant’s retirement income
goal is likely to be met based on a number of
factors, including age, gender, salary, savings
rate, investment strategy, and outside assets.
The Retirement Outlook tool has been highly
successful in motivating participants to take
action as needed to achieve their desired
retirement objectives.
PS: What do you think it takes to be a true
leader in the retirement space?
Hocking: To be a true leader in this space,
you definitely need a clear mission and a
clear focus. At Diversified, retirement is our
only business. We believe that you need not
only to look at what’s going on today but
also to anticipate what’s going to happen
in the future, especially when it comes to
technology, products, and services. Leaders
in the space need to be innovative with
cutting-edge technology and always look
ahead at the next generation that’s starting to
think about saving for retirement. n
