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Products April 13, 2020
Two West Advisors Launches Virtual Consultation Service
Participants receiving an email from plan sponsors can schedule virtual meetings with a Two West financial expert to address retirement plan account questions as well as broader personal financial issues.
Reported by PLANSPONSOR Staff
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Two West Advisors, an independent CEFEX-certified fiduciary adviser, has launched a virtual, private consultation service for the 30,000 retirement plan participants it serves who may have been financially impacted by the coronavirus.
The by-appointment-only service launched March 20 through a broad email outreach to employers sponsoring the retirement plans Two West services. Participants receiving the email from their sponsors can schedule 20-minute virtual meetings in one click with a Two West financial expert qualified to address individuals’ retirement plan account questions as well as broader personal financial issues.
Two West President Ryan Rink says, “We’ve reconfigured our workforce and calendars have been cleared so that everyone’s available to support this service. We don’t know how long the situation will last, but people are going to need information to make good decisions about their money.”
Two West Chief Executive Officer Marko Ungashick says the service is holistic, built on technology that enables individual participants to incorporate all their finances outside of their retirement plan accounts into the discussions.
“The meetings are set appointments so our financial experts can review each individual participant’s information in advance and be prepared to have an informed conversation,” Rink says. “We want to make sure the participants and [the financial experts] understand how their other accounts are doing to ensure they’re moving in concert with one another. And for those folks who need help with even the most basic of issues, like accessing their accounts, we’ll help them with that, too.”
The service will be available for the foreseeable future, regardless of the impact on Two West. “As long as we have restrictions on travel and can’t get to see our participants face-to-face, I don’t see why we wouldn’t continue making this service available. It’s a volatile time and as long as there’s a demand for it from our customers, we’ll make it work,” Rink says.