Jim Breen: Understanding the Planned Sponsor Council of America.

Will Hansen: So we advocate on behalf of Planned Sponsors to improve upon, the 401k system.

Jim Breen: The umbrella of the American Retirement Association.

Will Hansen: Our foremost, duty is education.

Jim Breen: And the certified Planned Sponsor professional credential.

Will Hansen: We are an education association first and foremost.

Jim Breen: All this and more on today's episode of The Wave Strength.

VO: Welcome to The Wave Strength, innovative solutions for a secure retirement. Presented by Pacific Life.

Jim Breen: Hello everyone. And welcome to another episode of the wave strength podcast series. I'm your host, Jim Breen, head of marketing with Pacific Life's Institutional team. Joining us today live in the studio is Will Hansen, the executive director for Planned Sponsor Council of America.

Jim Breen: Will, thank you for joining us today on another episode.

Will Hansen: Yeah, no, thanks for having me back.

Jim Breen: Absolutely, and excited to have you here in the studio live with us for a series of episodes. We're diving into various topics, to help understand, the mindset of the plan sponsor, and, really understanding PSCA and what you do in your role there.

Jim Breen: And so for this episode, for you and, our audience and myself, I'd love to dive a little deeper into PSCA. I know, it's been, on the forefront of retirement solutions since 1947 and it's brought so much to the table in those years. And frankly, a lot of wonderful things on deck as we look into the future, 2024 and beyond.

Jim Breen: I know a lot of great conferences in 2025, already, underway with the planning. Maybe you can share a little bit about your role first, Will, with the organization and, your specific responsibilities.

Will Hansen: Sure, so as Executive Director of Planned Sponsor Council of America, just really overseeing kind of the operations, the strategy, the mission, and, what we're looking to do, down the future.

Will Hansen: We have a great team, in, the suburbs of Washington, D. C., where we are headquartered. We are part of the American Retirement Association, so the American Retirement Association is really, an umbrella name, that has five different organizations under that umbrella Plan Sponsored Council of America is one of those five.

Will Hansen: The other four are also within the retirement arena, all together, amongst those five organizations, we have 35, 000 members, so these are 35, 000, yeah, 35, 000. These are individuals all across the country that are, touching or working on a retirement plan in some form or fashion. And I'm just lucky enough that I get to work with, the best group, HR professionals and others, who are administering a retirement plan, for their employees.

Will Hansen: But, so for PSCA, we're probably most well known for our annual survey. so we have a 401k annual survey, that's been around longer than 401ks, it's been around for 67 years. And then we're also well known for our advocacy. So we advocate on behalf of plan sponsors to improve upon, the 401k system, in America.

Will Hansen: So that, plus a lot of other great things, that we do that we can talk to, talk about a little bit more.

Jim Breen: Help me understand what attracted you to this current role with that great background, that you bring to the table.

Will Hansen: Yeah, I'll date back to what attracted me to even working in benefits and it was the people, I, my first career, my first job in benefits was as a lawyer.

Will Hansen: I'm straight out of law school, working, with other professionals, other lawyers, plan sponsors, and others. And I was drawn to it because everyone was just welcoming and friendly, and on top of that, it's really cool to be able to say that you're working on policy or you're working to improve upon, the retirement system or the healthcare system, in this country.

Will Hansen: So that's what really, drew me to, the profession for this specific job in particular, it's the best of both worlds. I oversee government affairs for the American Retirement Association, and on top of that, I then I'm an executive director of PSCA. So I get to, nerd out on politics, and do that aspect.

Will Hansen: And then I get to, work with HR professionals every day, which is just, a really, great job, that I can fall asleep every night saying that, I got to work with these really cool people and got to, hopefully improve the retirement system in America at the same time.

Jim Breen: There's nothing better than going to sleep at night knowing that you're, trying to make a difference in the world. That is a fantastic feeling. Maybe we can steer a little bit into the conversation of, we, you talked about the ARA, and how that is the umbrella for a PSCA, but maybe talk a little bit about maybe the mission of the ARA and the folks behind that, Brian Graff and some of these other wonderful people that are leading the charge into, the future.

Will Hansen: Yeah, so ARA is also a newish, term. It's only been around for about probably 10 or 15 years or so. My boss, Brian Graff, who's the CEO of the American Retirement Association, who is just a, an amazing guy, a thought leader, in this space, over the course his career of 25 plus years being within the ARA has, taken the various organizations, starting off with ASPA, the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, and then creating, NAPA, the National Association of Plan Advisors.

Will Hansen: Bringing in, under that, the actuarial group, the American Society of Enrolled Actuaries, and then also bringing into the group the National Tax Deferred Savings Associations, which is our 403b space, our 403b friends. And then PSCA, being the oldest of those five, since it's been around since 1947.

Will Hansen: It's actually the newest of the five organizations, under that umbrella. Brian, has created a team of, thought leaders in this space we have, our first and our foremost, duty is education, so we are an education association first and foremost, under all five of those associations.

Will Hansen: We offer some sort of educational programming, education credentials, that are, provided to our members or encourage new people to become members by getting that credential, to ensure that they are able to, more efficiently, effectively do their job as a retirement plan, professional.

Jim Breen: And such great resources too, and events and conferences and engagements. I know, through ARA, the NAPA 401k conference, for example, of which we've attended many times, many years, a fantastic, example of how ARA has brought so many people, thought leaders and others together to really talk, discuss, and understand where these next steps of retirement solutions are, moving towards and solutions that we can bring to the table to help solve, these needs, and PSCA no different, right? I know that such great, obviously the survey and unlike NAPA, PSCA has some fantastic opportunities on deck in 2025. I know in April there is the PSCA conference in las Vegas.

Will Hansen: Yep. That's correct. so all of our organizations under the umbrella have, really great conferences, NAPA Summit, the National Association of Plan Advisors, that you mentioned, that's our largest one, that had 2, 800 people this year.

Jim Breen: It's a fantastic conference. It's a great conference. Absolutely wonderful, I highly recommend it, I highly recommend it.

Will Hansen: Yeah. they'll probably, break records again. Maybe there'll be over 3, 000 people, at that conference. and then that's going to be April 28th through the 30th, in Las Vegas. and PSCA, we're actually going to build upon what we think is the success of NAPA Summit and we're going to co locate our conference, in Las Vegas.

Will Hansen: The same week, so like I said, the summit is the 28th through the 30th of April. PSCA's conference will be April 30th, to May 2nd. It'll also be my 45th birthday that weekend. So you guys can come and celebrate. Very cool. in Vegas no less. Yeah, for my 45th.

Jim Breen: Mine's right around the same time.

Jim Breen: No way. Yep. Taurus?. Yeah. Oh, Capricorn. Cap on the other side. Yeah. .

Jim Breen: I don't even know what those mean, but didn't mean neither. Yeah. .

Will Hansen: So yeah, no, it's, but yeah, our conference is, that's the opportunity for plan sponsors to, just meet with their peers, collaborate, every conference, which we've been, and we've had a conference every year for the 77, 78 years, that it's been around, for them to get together, be in a room, talk things out, learn about the latest trends, investment trends, lifetime income is going to be a really hot topic.

Will Hansen: It has been, it will be. for the coming years, financial wellness is another hot topic. And then of course, secure 2. 0 provisions, that are still going to be slowly implemented. But beyond that, we also specialize on HSAs, health savings accounts, and we also specialize on non qualified plans too.

Will Hansen: So there's always sessions on those, topics as well.

Jim Breen: You talk about some of these specialized topics. Let's, talk a little bit about the CPSP, the Certified Plan Sponsor Professional Credential that is offered. Maybe you can help our audience members understand a little bit with that, a little bit more about that.

Will Hansen: Yeah, so like I said, a few minutes ago, we are an education association first and foremost. So for our audience, if you are a plan sponsor and you're interested in more education, the certified plan sponsor professional certification is the only credential that's out there right now that focuses on administering a 401k plan.

Will Hansen: And it's totally complimentary for anyone to undergo the program, so it is really just providing the foundations of administering a 401k plan, we have eight weeks of, material every week is, different, topic, whether it's investments, one week, financial wellness, another week, planned administration.

Will Hansen: Of course we have one week on fiduciary, the F word, all about your, your fiduciary obligations, and even folks who have been in the industry for 10, 20 years, they still go through this credential and say that they walked away, learning something new, or at least validating what they may or may not have already, known as well.

Will Hansen: And so highly recommend, going to PSCA.Org and can learn a little bit more about, that credential.

Jim Breen: So PSCA.org for the credential, and, for folks to understand more about that, great opportunity, perhaps Will, could you share, a URL that folks could head over to if they're interested in the conference that, that'll be in April of 2025?

Will Hansen: Yeah, so for the conference, you can also go to psca.org, all the dropdown boxes, menus, that you can look at. typically we do have a separate website called PSCANational. org, right now it's probably just has a save the date, in there as we start to put, put together what will be really great material, for that conference next April, into early May.

Jim Breen: Will, thanks so much for taking the opportunity to sit down with us live in the studio today to talk more about PSCA and the fantastic things that you have on deck here. Not just, the conferences that you have in April, but the CPSP and I encourage folks to head over to that URL, learn more about it. Maybe you could share the, website again.

Will Hansen: Yep, it's just PSCA. org. and then find the education dropdown box you can learn more about the CPSP as well as all of our webinars. I will note that just by being taken to CPSP, that leads you to becoming a member of PSCA.

Will Hansen: So by getting that CPSP, getting the credential, you become a member of PSCA, all of our webinars are then complimentary to you, our national conference is totally complimentary as well, so a lot of great resources just by, getting that credential and becoming a member of the PSCA family.

Jim Breen: Will, thanks so much for joining us.

Will Hansen: Thank you.

Jim Breen: Absolutely. And to our audience, I want to thank you for spending time with us today. I want to encourage you also to head over to YouTube, Spotify, and Audible. Hit and subscribe so that you can stay current with new content as it becomes available.

Jim Breen: We'll see you next time, everyone.

VO: This has been another episode of The Wave Strength presented by Pacific Life. Don't forget to catch us on YouTube and make sure to subscribe. Although this podcast is presented by Pacific Life, the opinions and views expressed are those of the hosts and participants and do not necessarily reflect Pacific Life's views on any of the topics discussed.

VO: Unless otherwise noted, Pacific Life is unaffiliated with any other individual or company mentioned. Pacific Life is a product provider. It is not a fiduciary and therefore does not give advice or make recommendations regarding insurance or investment products. Pacific Life, its affiliates, its distributors, and respective representatives do not provide any employer sponsored qualified plan administrative services or impartial advice about investments and do not act in a fiduciary capacity for any plan.

VO: Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Insurance products can be issued in all states except New York by Pacific Life Insurance Company and in all states by Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Product availability and features may vary by state.

VO: Each insurance company is solely responsible for the financial obligations accruing under the products at issues. This podcast was recorded on August 13th, 2024.

Jim Breen: Thanks for joining us on today's show. We'd love to hear from you. Join the conversation below and leave a comment on your thoughts on what the industry can do better for participants as it pertains to lifetime income solutions.

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