Ep #1: The Promise of Personalization through Managed Accounts with Stadion's Todd Lacey

Todd Lacey is Chief Growth Officer at Stadion, an investment management firm that provides custom managed account solutions to retirement plan advisors, plan sponsors and participants.

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9/6/2020 - 111 minutes


Episode Summary

My guest today is Todd Lacey who is Chief Revenue Officer at Stadion an investment management firm that provides custom managed account solutions to retirement plan advisors, plan sponsors and participants. Todd has worked in a variety of different roles within the retirement industry for over 20 years which gives him a really unique perspective and vantage point, unlike just about anyone else I know. He’s been a retirement plan wholesaler, owned his own independent 401(k) advisory firm, The (k)larity Group, held high level executive management positions at Transamerica and now is leading growth initiatives at Stadion. Todd and I have been good friends for nearly 15 years and in fact, my firm, Greenspring Advisors, bought the The (k)larity Group when he decided to leave the advisory industry and go back to Transamerica.


On today’s episode, Todd and I have a wide ranging discussion. We talk about the changes that have taken place in the retirement industry over the past 20+ years and why he decided to leave the advisory industry after building a really successful firm which is not something people typically do. But we spend most of our time discussing managed accounts. How these solutions have evolved over time and why their adoption has lagged traditional target date funds over the past 15 years. We also discuss how managed accounts can deliver a more personalized investment experience that people have come to expect in other areas of their life. We also explore why certain recordkeepers and plan providers may be friendly or unfriendly to providing 3rd party managed account solutions depending on whether they have competing offerings, and some of the technology challenges to delivering managed accounts that create a high barrier to entry. And be sure to listen to the end where Todd shares his thoughts on where the retirement industry headed over the next 5-10 years and the role of managed accounts as well as his single best piece of advice for making ERISA fiduciaries smarter. 


What You'll Learn

  • The changes Todd has seen in the industry over the years.
  • Why he got into the advisory business himself. 
  • The biggest mistakes he has made in the industry.
  • What his years of experience have taught him.
  • How advisors are utilizing managed accounts.
  • Why a sponsor would want to consider a managed account.
  • How to gather the necessary data to achieve personalization.


Links to Resources


Ideas Worth Sharing

  1. “I am all about life experiences and business experiences, and if that means changing either my role or evolving my role with an organization—or going to another organization to get more experience—that’s fulfilling to me and I enjoy that.” – Todd Lacey 
  2. “It’s not about the quality of the investments. It’s more about the behavioral impact.” – Todd Lacey
  3. “Personalization makes sense and is part of the future.” – Todd Lacey