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Meet 2021 Elite Advisor Shane Michael Robinson

The National Tax-Deferred Savings Association is pleased to name Shane Michael Robinson as one of the 2021 recipients of its prestigious NTSA Elite Advisor Award.

Robinson, a Financial Advisor with Robinson and Associates, serves 1,950 participants in six school districts and with $180 million in assets under management. 

Over the past decade and half, Robinson has built his family practice from three advisors to 12. As a second-generation advisor, he has guided the new advisors in his practice in the family model. 

Their business model grew from offering only insurance products to offering not only full financial planning for most clients but also full estate planning for any client who needs a Will, Trust, or Power of Attorney. In addition, in 2005, Robinson and Associates diversified from serving only 403(b)s to a combination of 403(b)s and 457(b)s and increased participation rates in these accounts up to 50% in the school districts they served. 

Robinson identified four core principles the firm instills in their new advisors: 

  • Try to be the total advisor for each client you work with, handle their retirement, insurance, and after-tax investments, Be their go-to financial professional. 
  • Pace yourself. This business is known for burnout. Try not to have more than 8-9 meetings a week and plan to spend 2 hours with each new client. Take time to understand their goals and objectives, listen to their needs and wants, and educate them based on this conversation. These are the core building blocks for creating lifelong relationships. 
  • Have fun; it’s a business that changes with each client you see. Know your job, know your product, but know everyone else’s product as well. Be able to explain everything, not just what you offer. 
  • Be consistent and have a process in place.

Says Sara McGrath, AIF®, CRES, 2020 Elite Advisor, “Shane is currently the chairman for the Lincoln Investment Advisor Council. He has brought many great ideas to the Lincoln executive committee that has in turn made the advisor and investor experience at Lincoln Investment better. He is a dedicated financial professional in the 403b industry with over 17 years of experience and approximately 1,200 403b participants in NC.” 

WOWcasts

In the 26th series of the NTSA WOWcasts, NTSA Past President Randy Aranowitz interviewed Robinson. In Segment I, Aranowitz and Robinson discuss Robinson’s background. In Segment II they discuss Robinson’s business model. In Segment III they discuss volunteerism and the North Carolina state 403(b). 

About the NTSA Elite Advisor Award

Established in 2014, the NTSA Elite Advisor Award recognizes the contributions of advisors who have advanced best practice standards in the nonprofit, 403(b) and/or the 457(b) retirement industry, and in so doing, have improved the ability of American workers to build a successful retirement.

The NTSA Elite Advisor Award is an annual member recognition program that has been established to honor financial advisors whose presence and innovative work have helped shape the best practices in serving clients in the ERISA nonprofit, 403(b) and 457(b) retirement industry, as well as to acknowledge their specific outstanding, unique accomplishments and/or contributions. 

The Elite Advisor Award proclaims to the retirement industry, to the federal, state and local legislatures, and to the public that NTSA and its advisors are critical to this marketplace. Elite Advisors are educated, experienced, involved community professionals, required for the process of achieving individual retirement security for Americans in the non-profit public and private sector. Together with NTSA, the Elite Advisors are committed to open access, professional advice, standard of care, collaboration and ethical behavior.

The award is by advisors, for advisors. The award’s focus is on advisor best practices for advocacy, leadership, practice management and legacy within the ERISA nonprofit, 403(b) and 457(b) retirement industry, directly affecting Americans’ ability to build a successful retirement, especially through employer-based retirement plans. The award’s goal is to recognize the very “best of the best” advisor members of NTSA who have done the most to help individual plan participants accumulate assets for retirement, to advocate for this industry, to lead in profound ways, to operate an ever-improving practice and to mentor the future. 

Additional information about the Elite Advisor Award is available at https://www.ntsa-net.org/industry-intel/elite-advisor-award.