2018 Service Stars | Team

VALIC

Nahed Alsous, Alexander Gracia and Daniel Knox arranged to meet with all employees of this 24/7 health and hospital system to demonstrate the importance of retirement saving

2018
Service Stars

From Left to Right: Nahed Alsous, financial planning adviser; Alexander Gracia, financial adviser; Daniel Knox, senior financial adviser

Client: WakeMed Health & Hospitals
Client Industry: Health care organization (not for profit)
Client headquarters: Raleigh, North Carolina
Plan Assets/Participants: >$500mm–$1b/9,200
Bios: Nahed Alsous, financial planning adviser. Alsous joined VALIC in 2003. He has worked closely with WakeMed since 2007, when VALIC was named the exclusive plan provider. Prior to joining VALIC, she was an electrical engineer in the Networking and Telecommunications areas at IBM and Notrel Networks. Alsous received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her master’s from North Caroline State University.

Alexander Gracia, financial adviser. Gracia has worked in the financial services industry his entire career. He joined VALIC in 2005. He began his career at Ameriprise. He is an integral member of the WakeMed financial adviser team and, along with Alsous, was one of the original advisers assigned to service the plan 11 years ago. Alexander is a graduate of Rhode Island College.

Dan Knox, senior financial adviser. Knox joined VALIC in 2002 and has been a dedicated financial adviser for 16 years. He joined the WakeMed Financial Advisor team in 2010. As senior financial adviser, he oversees the VALIC Financial Advisor team’s on-site and strategic support services. Including Knox, six financial advisers provided dedicated support to WakeMed. Prior to being a financial adviser with VALIC, Dan was a mechanical engineer at Strategic Resource Solutions and is a graduate from North Carolina State University.

A hospital system can have dozens of locations, with staff working round the clock—which makes it a challenge for sponsors to foster retirement saving. This is true for WakeMed Health & Hospitals—and why it values the VALIC team. According to WakeMed’s Michael Jackson, the team successfully undertook to meet with all of the system’s 9,200-plus employees, where they work and when available, “through department meetings, on-site seminars and personal consultations, every day and night of the week.”

VALIC Financial Planning Adviser Nahed Alsous feels they performed a valuable service. “Most are on their feet all day, and if it weren’t for our coming to them in the hospital, and in their unit or break room, they might never have had the chance to meet with anyone to plan for their retirement. Being here in the hospital has allowed us to help thousands of people and families over the last decade,” she says.

Jackson concurs, pointing to the 10-year sustained increase in plan participation rates. “The team presents weekly, at our new hire orientation, to introduce the 403(b) plan and stress the importance of saving. Its efforts have pushed our participation rates up 11% in the past four years. Eleven percent means nearly 1,000 more employees are saving for retirement than before VALIC’s efforts.”

While the VALIC adviser team connects with all new hires, it spent months contacting current staff yet to enroll in the plan. “We wanted to make sure all employees understood their options,” says Daniel Knox, a senior financial adviser. VALIC, therefore, is proactive about offering education and one-on-one guidance, he says. “We believe every American deserves a fulfilling retirement, and we’ll do everything we can to make that happen.”

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