How to integrate retirement planning and wealth management to drive practice growth

Last updated: December 4, 2025

Retirement planning and wealth management key takeaways:

• Financial advisors are integrating retirement planning and wealth management to serve the employer that sponsors the retirement plan and the employees participating in it.
• Retirement plan management clients give financial advisors access to investors who are already saving, engaged and ready for deeper financial conversations.
• Advisors can naturally expand their services to plan participants through education, data and earned trust.

Advisors who embrace an integrated model that serves both employer-sponsored retirement plan clients and their plan participants with wealth management services are building the practices of the future. It’s a dual revenue strategy with a long-term, high-value client base that paves the way to better results.

Why the integration of retirement planning and wealth management is so important to practice growth

The lines between 401(k) retirement planning and wealth management are rapidly converging. More financial advisors are expanding their practices to offer both options, serving the employer that sponsors the retirement plan and the individual employees participating in it. This move reflects the broader industry trend of integrated financial guidance, which positions the advisor who helps manage a company’s retirement plan as a resource for individual participants and their personal financial journeys.

By building trust and visibility through the retirement plan relationship, advisors become the go-to resource for the employer and its workforce. Therein lie many personal wealth investment management opportunities and a steady stream of potential clients with unique and broad financial needs: investment management, retirement income planning, tax strategies, college savings, estate planning and more.

Financial advisors performing this dual-service model diversify their practice and create long-term value. Ultimately, integrated retirement planning and wealth management can strengthen client retention, deepen relationships and align an advisor’s practice to where the industry is headed.

Why retirement plan clients are great candidates for wealth management opportunities

Retirement plan management clients give financial advisors access to a built-in audience of investors who are already saving, engaged and primed for deeper financial conversations. By serving both the plan sponsor and its participants, advisors tap into recurring revenue, consistent referral flow and scalable growth opportunities, all while strengthening their reputation as a trusted financial resource.

High lifetime value and trust

From a business standpoint, employer-sponsored retirement plans are a powerful client acquisition engine. Plan participants each have investable assets, household income and personal financial goals beyond their workplace plan.

Example: Suppose an advisor manages a 401(k) plan for a company with 50 employees. Through regular enrollment meetings and participant education sessions, the advisor becomes recognized by the workforce. As employees approach mid-career, several ask for help rolling over 401(k) balances from previous employers or setting up individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for their spouses. Others request guidance on college savings plans or retirement income projections. Over time, it’s possible for the advisor to convert multiple participants into full-service wealth investment management clients. In effect, the advisor turns one employer relationship into multiple personal relationships, generating ongoing assets under management (AUM) or planning-fee revenue.

Financial needs expand naturally as participants age

Retirement plan participants have financial needs that evolve predictably, giving advisors the opportunity to address common financial needs across careers and life stages proactively. In an employee’s early years, financial advisors focus on saving and investing. Later, they shift to managing distributions, minimizing taxes and protecting assets.

Population demographics alone convey the coming need for income planning in retirement. The number of older adults is expected to more than double over the next several decades.

Advisors already connected to participants through workplace retirement plans will be well-positioned to provide the next level of guidance as people transition from accumulation to decumulation. Each rollover or income-planning engagement represents an opportunity to expand AUM and deepen lifetime client value.

Established trust and financial awareness shortens the sales cycle

Participants already recognize an advisor’s name and expertise from plan communications, investment education and annual reviews. That recognition dramatically shortens the time and cost required to acquire new clients. Instead of cold outreach, advisors engage in warm, compliant conversations with people who already know them and trust their guidance.

Because the participants associate the advisor with their employer – a trusted source – they are more likely to attend workshops, open marketing emails or accept a one-on-one consultation offer. In short, built-in trust offers the potential to convert new client engagements into retirement wealth management opportunities with minimal additional marketing spend.

Long-term relationships and referral potential

Every new wealth investment management relationship that begins through a workplace plan opens the door to additional referrals – spouses, adult children or colleagues changing jobs. Advisors who stay visible through retirement education or rollover services also may find that former participants continue to refer peers, even after leaving an employer. The result is a compounding effect: One plan sponsor relationship leads to dozens of participant relationships, which in turn leads to family and peer referrals – all fueling sustainable growth for an advisor’s practice.

Bottom line: Retirement plan management clients give financial advisors an efficient, compliant and relationship-based path to expand their book of business.

What are the options for financial advisors to expand from retirement to wealth management?

Successful advisors build on the employer relationship to serve both the retirement plan and the individual participants. By delivering measurable value to the plan sponsor and offering personalized financial guidance to employees, advisors can expand their services naturally through education, data and earned trust. Eventually, they will have converted retirement plan participants to long-term wealth investment management clients.

Advisors serve both sides of the relationship: The plan sponsor and participants

Advisors who work with employer-sponsored retirement plans wear two hats – plan consultant and personal financial advisor. Thriving practices know how to balance both sides of the relationship effectively.

For plan sponsors, the advisor’s focus is on fiduciary support, plan design, compliance, investment monitoring and participant engagement. Advisors build trust and strengthen relationships by ensuring the plan operates smoothly and that employees understand their investment options. They demonstrate ongoing, tangible value by consistently supporting the plan, the plan sponsor and the needs of business leaders.

For participants, the advisor provides personalized financial guidance within clear regulatory boundaries, helping individuals align their investment plans with their overall financial goals. Over time, education and familiarity can evolve into broader wealth management relationships, especially during key life events, like job changes, retirement or inheritance planning.

Strategy example: An advisor conducts annual plan reviews with the sponsor, presenting data on participation rates, average deferral percentages and investment trends. At the same time, they host quarterly participant education sessions and offer optional, one-on-one financial wellness check-ins. These meetings help employees with asset allocation, rollovers or outside investments and organically create openings for full-service wealth investment management engagements.

Deepen value for the plan sponsor

To retain and grow retirement plan business, advisors can:

• Support compliance and fiduciary oversight
  Offer plan governance reviews, investment policy statements and fiduciary documentation.
• Improve participant outcomes
  Track and share participation and deferral trends to help sponsors meet their fiduciary duty and support employee retirement readiness.
• Integrate payroll and benefits data
  Use embedded technology, like ADP’s integrated payroll and retirement plans, to help sponsors reduce administrative work and errors.
• Deliver education as a retention tool
  Promote financial wellness benefits to help employers engage and retain talent.

By demonstrating that their work improves both plan efficiency and employee satisfaction, advisors solidify their role as a strategic partner.

Engage participants to attract wealth investment management business

Thoughtful, compliant outreach to participants can include:

• Complementary consultations
  Provide every participant with access to one no-cost, 30-minute personal consultation as part of the plan’s educational offering. Then, schedule follow-up sessions for deeper planning, billed hourly or under an AUM model.
• Host targeted workshops
  Offer live or virtual sessions on “maximizing your 401(k),” “understanding rollovers,” or “retirement readiness at 55+.” Educational sessions attract engaged savers and make it easy to invite one-on-one follow-ups.
• Send milestone-based communications
  Use plan data (age, balance size, job changes) to trigger personalized outreach. For example: “You’re turning 59½ – let’s talk about your income options.”
• Advanced technology
  Use technology, such as the ADP Advisor Access Portal, to identify participants who are nearing retirement or have high balances. Then, tailor education and outreach to their needs.
• Create a seamless handoff
  Offer rollover assistance or income planning guidance when employees retire or change jobs.

Manage both types of relationships with transparency

Balancing the needs of a plan sponsor and participants requires transparency and trust. To that end, advisors should:

• Clearly separate roles
  Communicate which services are covered under the plan arrangement and which are separate wealth management offerings for participants.
• Document interactions
  Keep meticulous records of all client interactions, recommendations and disclosures to maintain fiduciary and compliance integrity, which is crucial for audit purposes.
• Report outcomes
  Share participant engagement metrics and satisfaction feedback with sponsors to demonstrate value.
• Segregate client support
  Use distinct teams or processes for retirement planning and wealth management to create a separation of duties.

When executed well, this two-sided service model benefits everyone. Employers experience higher participation and satisfaction, while participants receive personalized financial guidance from an advisor who understands their retirement savings vehicle. 

How to use ADP retirement plan tools to create effective marketing and growth strategies

Financial advisors can use ADP’s integrated retirement plan tools to strengthen both marketing and client growth in the following ways:

• Payroll and plan data allow advisors to identify high-potential participants, automate outreach and personalize engagement based on milestones, like age, balance size or retirement readiness.
• ADP’s Advisor Access portal for client management offers comprehensive reporting that makes it easy to track participation activity and trends.
• Advisors can also use ADP-branded participant education resources and client-ready content to market their services with plan sponsors, helping build trust, visibility and a scalable pipeline of new business opportunities.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how to use ADP tools and platforms to support plan sponsor services and participant outreach:

1. Use ADP’s integrated payroll and retirement plan platforms to help plan sponsors reduce administrative tasks and save significant time.
2. Use ADP’s participant education resources (personalized communications, calculators, online financial wellness library) to anchor your education sessions and position yourself as a dependable advisor. Offering such knowledge to spark conversations about wealth management can fulfill an unmet need. In fact, an ADP study found that 60% of workers are “substantially under-saving” and 39% feel overwhelmed by their financial situation.”¹
3. Use plan data available within the ADP Advisor Access portal to identify high-value participants and tailor your outreach. For example, send a communication to participants approaching age 60 alerting them to a “retirement readiness check.”
4. Use content marketing to communicate with plan sponsors and align messaging to the dual role. For example, “How advisory services help participants build wealth and make important decisions as they transition through life stages, from accumulation to preservation and distribution of retirement savings.”
5. Track metrics, such as plan participation, deposit rates, rollover events, one-on-one meetings booked and new wealth investment management clients acquired. Use this data to refine outreach and demonstrate to sponsors the added value of serving participants.

Frequently asked questions

¹ ADP, A Crisis in Retirement Confidence: Employees Aren't Financially Ready

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ADP Inc. owns and operates the ADP.com website. Unless otherwise disclosed or agreed to in writing with a client, ADP, Inc. and its affiliates (ADP) do not endorse or recommend specific investment companies or products. Please consult with your own advisors for such advice. Investment options are available through the applicable entity(ies) for each retirement product. Investment options in the “ADP Direct Products” are available through either ADP Broker-Dealer, Inc. (ADP BD), Member FINRA, an affiliate of ADP, Inc., One ADP Blvd, Roseland, NJ 07068 or (in the case of certain investments) ADP, Inc. Only registered representatives of ADP BD may offer and sell ADP retirement products and services or speak to retirement plan features and/or investment options available in any ADP retirement products.