Retirement plan advisors come in all sorts of different sizes. They may range in size from a large company like Fidelity to a small local independent advisor. Though one may want to gravitate towards a larger company, your local independent advisor should not be forgotten. Both types of retirement plan advisors have benefits and drawbacks.

Aspects of Large and Small Retirement Plan Advisors

Large companies offer a variety of investment services for individual investors and businesses alike. The benefits of the large retirement plan advisors are quite simple: psychological security and typically lower costs. It also stands to reason that because of their size they can offer cheaper fees because of the sheer number of clients that they have, which brings us to the drawbacks of larger companies.

As with everything else when you pay a lower price, you often get a lower quality product. In the case of retirement plan advisors that lower product may be attention and service. Many larger companies have millions of clients that simply cannot be handled on a detailed individual basis. Let's face it--the goal of these companies is to grow earnings for their share holders. They do this by pushing sales quotas on their representatives, which in turn cause their representatives to have a large number of clients. A large number of clients, in turn, equal a lower quality of individual service.

Small independent advisors are likely found in many offices in your area. Some people may not consider these independent advisors because of their small size. In fact, many smaller retirement plan advisors work with larger companies to provide custody of their client's funds. What this means is your money is held by a large company like Fidelity, while you work closely with the independent advisor.

A smaller advisor may have larger fees than their larger counterparts, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Independent advisors are not publicly traded companies that have an obligation to grow earnings for their shareholders. This means that an independent advisor can get by with fewer clients than their larger counterparts. This equals a higher degree of personal attention than what you may expect to get from a larger company.