2018 Service Stars  | Individual

Brandon Trippe

Isolated software errors that had caused inaccuracies in a new payroll system

Brandon Trippe, senior client service manager

Recordkeeper Company: Newport Group
Client: Methodist Rehabilitation Center
Client Industry: Health care
Client Headquarters: Jackson, Mississippi
Plan Assets/Participants: >$25mm$50mm/1,000
Bio: Brandon Trippe has worked in the retirement industry for 14 years, the first three as a financial adviser with A.G. Edwards. He has been a senior client service manager with Newport Group since 2007.

Kathy Kendrick with Methodist Rehabilitation Center thinks back to last year and the launching of the provider’s new payroll software—and the disruptions it caused for “the normal processes our company has had in place.”

“After months of erroneous payrolls, it was the efforts of Brandon Trippe and his colleagues who isolated the software errors that helped fix the problem,” she says. “That discovery didn’t happen without several after-hours phone calls and attempts at file uploads and edits.” With the help of the Newport Group’s information technology (IT) and operations staffers, Trippe, a Newport client service manager, was able to have the software reformatted and then update the client’s access levels.

According to Kendrick, Trippe has demonstrated this same kind of dedication and customer service while helping Methodist Rehab complete its annual information form (AIF) and annual Form 5500. “He often steps in to remind us of missing information and provide guidance as needed; we could not have met several deadlines without his assistance,” she says.

Methodist Rehab Center has never had a different relationship manager—unusual today in the industry. “There’s a lot of change and turnover,” Trippe observes. “Plans get shuffled around. Having a 10-year track record with a client these days is rare.” 

He notes that he has also worked with the same people at Mississippi Methodist since it first came onboard with his firm. “I work with wonderful plan sponsors  who understand we are a team,” he says. “To have consistency for the whole time has made a really great relationship. We work well together; I recognize their phone number when they call.”

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