RECORDKEEPER EMPLOYER: Fidelity Investments
TENURE WITH COMPANY: 15 years
BIO: Shannon Bray, a project manager for Fidelity Investments in Covington, Kentucky says she “fell into” the retirement services industry after applying for a position at a local Fidelity call center while in college. Over the last 15 years, her career progressed from client service manager to relationship manager and, more recently, to project manager.
CLIENT: Direct Energy, Houston, Texas
PLAN TYPE: 401(k)
PLAN SIZE: $194 million
PLAN PARTICIPANTS: 6,640
“Throughout our project to consolidate seven of our 401(k) plans into one, Shannon Bray showed her ability to address various issues, demonstrating her expertise in conversions,” says Crystal Enriquez, benefits analyst for Direct Energy.
Navigating the complexities of client services comes easily to Bray who, in her role as a project manager at Fidelity Investments, was integral in Direct Energy’s plan consolidation. In September 2013, Direct Energy came to her company with two goals in mind. One was to move from the adviser market to Fidelity’s direct platform; the second, she says, was the more complicated platform-consolidation task. Direct Energy had accumulated several retirement plans over the years and wished to pare that number down to just one plan at Fidelity.
Initially, Bray says, the plan sponsor hoped this would be a three-month project, and the target deadline was set for January 1, 2014. “I worked with Direct Energy in the formal process of notifying [the six providers] via written letter that the plan would be transitioning to Fidelity. Once we had a contact that we could reach out to, I took it upon myself—with Direct Energy’s approval—to lead the initiative of working with each provider and understanding [its] timelines.”
After discussion with each, Bray went back to Direct Energy to offer her recommendation, based on the feedback she had received. Some were able to meet a January deadline, others February and others March. Direct Energy wanted to complete the consolidation as quickly as possible, though it would have to be finished after the date the firm had originally targeted. “So, rather than doing six different dates, six different projects, [we decided to] group these together to minimize the amount of work on everyone’s behalf.”
Given that there were six different plans, some of the plan contacts were not always easy to reach. “It did sometimes take us a little bit longer to get the level of detail that we needed,” she notes. “That knowledge was not there for many of us, so there was a lot of fact-finding that we needed to do along the way.”But, Enriquez says, “working closely with Bray, we were able to transfer the assets of three 401(k) plans within three months and another three plans in the next three months.”
“Working toward that together was a little time-consuming, but we did get to that point,” Bray agrees, discussing the consolidation process. “Direct Energy is a great client to work with. It was a team effort.”Bray’s approach to her work is to always remain client-focused. “Everyone is strapped for time and resources,” she says. “[Our clients] really look at the project manager to be that partner, to be the advocate and do it in a timely, efficient manner that works for everyone and all parties involved.” What it comes down to, she says, is “understanding the plan sponsor, what’s important to it, its communication preference, … what its goals are and making sure that not only do we meet those, but as a team we exceed those expectations for it.” —Sara Kelly
Navigating the complexities of client services comes easily to Bray who, in her role as a project manager at Fidelity Investments, was integral in Direct Energy’s plan consolidation. In September 2013, Direct Energy came to her company with two goals in mind. One was to move from the adviser market to Fidelity’s direct platform; the second, she says, was the more complicated platform-consolidation task. Direct Energy had accumulated several retirement plans over the years and wished to pare that number down to just one plan at Fidelity.
Initially, Bray says, the plan sponsor hoped this would be a three-month project, and the target deadline was set for January 1, 2014. “I worked with Direct Energy in the formal process of notifying [the six providers] via written letter that the plan would be transitioning to Fidelity. Once we had a contact that we could reach out to, I took it upon myself—with Direct Energy’s approval—to lead the initiative of working with each provider and understanding [its] timelines.”
After discussion with each, Bray went back to Direct Energy to offer her recommendation, based on the feedback she had received. Some were able to meet a January deadline, others February and others March. Direct Energy wanted to complete the consolidation as quickly as possible, though it would have to be finished after the date the firm had originally targeted. “So, rather than doing six different dates, six different projects, [we decided to] group these together to minimize the amount of work on everyone’s behalf.”
Given that there were six different plans, some of the plan contacts were not always easy to reach. “It did sometimes take us a little bit longer to get the level of detail that we needed,” she notes. “That knowledge was not there for many of us, so there was a lot of fact-finding that we needed to do along the way.”But, Enriquez says, “working closely with Bray, we were able to transfer the assets of three 401(k) plans within three months and another three plans in the next three months.”
“Working toward that together was a little time-consuming, but we did get to that point,” Bray agrees, discussing the consolidation process. “Direct Energy is a great client to work with. It was a team effort.”Bray’s approach to her work is to always remain client-focused. “Everyone is strapped for time and resources,” she says. “[Our clients] really look at the project manager to be that partner, to be the advocate and do it in a timely, efficient manner that works for everyone and all parties involved.” What it comes down to, she says, is “understanding the plan sponsor, what’s important to it, its communication preference, … what its goals are and making sure that not only do we meet those, but as a team we exceed those expectations for it.” —Sara Kelly
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