2025 Top Retirement Plan Adviser: Renn Williams

This year, PLANADVISER followed up with advisers on the 2025 Top Retirement Plan Advisers listing to get to know them better. These are the responses from Renn Williams of Advo(k)ate Advisors in Birmingham, Alabama.

PLANADVISER: What does it take to be a successful retirement plan adviser in 2025?

Williams: The most successful plan advisers have an insatiable desire to help Americans with not just retirement readiness, but overall financial literacy. The largest obstacle to most Americans being retirement ready are career-lasting, short-term financial challenges, debt and emotional decisionmaking. Plan advisers that can communicate the need for basic financial literacy to plan sponsors and help develop strategies to give employees better financial footing can have the largest impact. The most successful advisers are those that make the largest impacts on employee populations. Americans need to have a strong short-term financial foundation before they should even think about retirement planning.

PLANADVISER: Has the focus or character of your practice shifted meaningfully over time to respond to evolving client demands, market pressures or the emergence of new technologies?

Williams: Yes. As the workforce evolves and companies continue to struggle with recruiting and retention, administration and HR departments have really gotten thin. We’re having to focus on helping our clients with compliance and operating their plans in accordance with their plan documents. If we don’t, it can cost clients money, stress and our time to assist with fixing problems. We’re developing AI-driven tools and resources that will help us with client oversight, which should save everyone time and money.

PLANADVISER: What are the most challenging aspects of the job? What are the most enjoyable?

Williams: Our challenges usually result from breakdowns in communication that hinder our ability to be proactive. We put a lot of pressure on our clients to ask questions if they aren’t sure about something so we can help all of us avoid turbulence. Please let us know if you are considering some type of acquisition or divestiture so the retirement plan impacts are not an afterthought! It’s a team effort, and we all need to understand the common game plan, agree to the play being run and coordinate our efforts. The most enjoyable part of the job is being part of a successful team and helping underserved plans get back on track. Sometimes we get to work with new clients where the adviser bar was set really low, or there was no bar at all. It’s really rewarding to be able to jump in and make large impacts right away to reduce cost, improve investments and help participants understand what’s available and make good decisions!

PLANADVISER: For those plan sponsors looking for a new plan adviser, describe what makes your firm stand out.

Williams: We have the scale and resources to compete and win against any firm, but our clients don’t get lost in the shuffle. There’s a high probability that whether it’s Andrew or myself serving as your adviser, you’re going to have us working directly with you for a long time if you’ll allow us to continue to serve you! Our longer-tenured clients have had the same relationship managers from our team for over 10 years. I’ve worked with my largest client for over 10 years and have never missed a quarterly meeting. We’re great listeners, translators and coaches. We’re large enough to compete on any scale, but small enough to be nimble, accommodate needs and customize service. We call ourselves Advo(k)ate because it speaks to our mission.

View Other Top Retirement Plan Adviser Profiles Here