{"id":819276,"date":"2026-08-19T23:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/819276\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T23:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:38:09","slug":"pontera-adds-option-for-advisors-to-guide-401k-savers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/819276\/","title":{"rendered":"Pontera Adds Option for Advisors to Guide 401(k) Savers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pontera, a New York-based technology provider serving advisors in managing held-away retirement savings assets<\/a>, has announced new functionality that provides advisors with visibility into client accounts, such as 401(k)s, to guide them on recommended actions aligned with their financial goals.<\/p>\n

The move, which Pontera called non-discretionary retirement advice, is an addition to the firm\u2019s core discretionary advice offering, allowing advisors to directly manage held-away assets with participants\u2019 consent. The new tool will launch in September, with a waitlist for advisors to join and access Pontera\u2019s other services, such as billing, reporting and supervision of client accounts.<\/p>\n

According to the announcement, advisors using the service will not have access to client accounts, the ability to withdraw funds or the ability to make contributions or beneficiary changes. Instead, it will offer \u201cguided workflows\u201d for participants to follow on their advisor\u2019s recommendations.<\/p>\n

Related:$1.5B RIA Platform Brookwood Hires Four Executives in Partnership Model<\/a><\/p>\n

CEO Yoav Zurel said in a statement that the option offers additional choice in how retirement savers receive financial advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome want their advisor to implement every portfolio decision. Others want to stay directly involved while benefiting from professional guidance,\u201d Zurel said. \u201cOur job is to build the infrastructure that supports both.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move also comes, however, after Pontera had a public spat<\/a> with the country\u2019s largest workplace retirement record keeper, Fidelity Investments. In September 2024, the Boston-based financial firm, which has $17.9 trillion in assets under administration, sought to block credential sharing systems\u2014without naming Pontera directly\u2014to protect client information and assets. A year later, Zurel wrote a letter to Fidelity accusing it of denying clients financial advice<\/a> they may want for their held-away savings.<\/p>\n

Pontera does not give asset or advisor figures. It has formed partnerships with RIAs, including Steward Partners and independent broker\/dealers such as Stifel Financial. It also has partnerships with 401(k) recordkeepers such as Manulife John Hancock Retirement.<\/p>\n

Zach Pardes, the head of brand communications for Pontera, said the new non-discretionary move has nothing to do with Fidelity or other record keepers. Instead, he said it was in response to advisors and their clients, some of whom want more control over their assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a reflection of different strokes for different folks,\u201d Pardes said. \u201cSome firms prefer discretionary management, and some would rather work in a non-discretionary mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:MAI’s Post-Carlyle Deal Spree Continues, Adding Two Firms with Combined $1B+ AUM<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrew Besheer, managing principal of Besheer & Associates, read the move differently, calling it a \u201cwhite flag\u201d in the battle to obtain advisors\u2019 account holder credentials to directly manage held-away assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly feels to me like Pontera has finally accepted that it\u2019s not going to win its battle with Fidelity over access to plan participant accounts,\u201d Besheer said. \u201cThe painful part is that Pontera would\u2019ve told you for the past 7 to 8 years that this was the wrong model\u2014that advisors should have full discretionary trading access directly into plan accounts and that access would allow them to manage a client\u2019s plan\/non-plan assets holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besheer added that the non-discretionary platform option would still be useful for advisors, but not as useful as the initial idea of directly managing held-away assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Yoav and his team came up with an outstanding idea for helping both advisors and retirement savers,\u201d he said. \u201cIn some ways, it could\u2019ve been the golden goose. That said, I think maybe they were too stubborn and unwilling to be pragmatic in their relationships with plan administrators\/custodians and that dogmatism has done them no good service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fidelity did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the non-discretionary offering.<\/p>\n

Related:Creative Planning, Transamerica Face Suit Over Plan Selections<\/a><\/p>\n

Pontera\u2019s Pardes said the firm stands ready to work with Fidelity and any record keepers. He said they can either do so through existing API technology or by working with the record keeper directly to build a link-up for advisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a record keeper does not have that [API] available and would like us to build it, or we can work with a mutually agreed upon work frame, we\u2019ll do that,\u201d he said. \u201cIf a record keeper doesn\u2019t want to offer it, that is their choice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pontera, a New York-based technology provider serving advisors in managing held-away retirement savings assets, has announced new functionality…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,147,530],"class_list":["post-819276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}