Ep #42: Analyzing Large Market Consulting and Product Trends with Michael Doshier

Welcome to episode #42 of the Fiduciary U™ Podcast. My guest on this episode is Michael Doshier, who is a Senior Defined Contribution Advisor Strategist for T. Rowe Price where he is primarily responsible for driving the increased visibility of T Rowe Price’s investment brand, furthering the firm’s position as a thought leader in the retirement arena. He’s been in the retirement industry for 30 years and previously held executive positions at Fidelity, MassMutual and Franklin Templeton Investments.

This is Michael’s second time on the podcast. During his first appearance, he shared his insights from T. Rowe Price’s inaugural 2020 Defined Contribution Consultant Study. On today’s episode, he’ll be sharing his insights from T. Rowe Price’s 2021 Defined Contribution Consultant Study which included survey responses from 32 consulting firms that work with over 33,000 plan sponsor clients and more than $7 trillion in assets under advisement. It also incorporated over 450 plan sponsors survey directly by T. Rowe Price and nearly 6,500 plan participants from T. Rowe Price recordkeeping clients.

We discuss topics like price competition and margin compression faced by consultants and advisors, how the competitive lines are blurring between the two, how to improve firm profitability, which services and capabilities provide differentiation opportunities as well as plan sponsor and participant attitudes towards things like retirement decumulation, financial wellness, student debt, and HSAs, among other things. And make sure to listen to the end where Michael shares his best piece of practice management advice for consultants and advisors.