John Resurreccion, CFP®, is Head of Retirement Plan Services in our Austin, TX office. He helps business owners and their employees run more effective retirement plans – improving investment options and fees, strengthening fiduciary governance and plan design, expanding access to advice, and advocating with plan providers.

What John does and why it matters

John leads our retirement plan work for business owners with a simple aim – make the plan easier to run while improving outcomes for employees. He starts by benchmarking plan-provider fees and services – including our own – then leads negotiations so sponsors get the right mix of cost, service, and oversight. For leaders worried that a change will disrupt the business, John’s approach is built to minimize friction and keep the true priority – employee satisfaction – front and center.

He also puts education to work. John welcomes questions about fiduciary responsibility and turns that curiosity into stronger governance and clearer roles. For employees, he builds practical guidance like our Next Best Dollar program – modeled on a Financial Order of Operations approach – so people know the one or two steps that will make the biggest difference right now. The throughline is service: do what’s needed for owners and employees to thrive, delivered the right way.

In plain English – how do you help clients?

I help business owners and their staff run more effective retirement plans. The term effective can mean different things for each client, but we typically look to improve investment options, fees, fiduciary governance, plan design features, participant access to advice, and advocacy with plan providers.

What should clients expect when they work with you?

Clients should expect to work with an experience plan advisor with a genuine desire to make their life easier while helping their employees achieve better financial outcomes. Better financial outcomes for employees  means going well beyond the retirement plan and looking to understand their financial situation to help them identify the 1 or 2 next  steps that will have the greatest impact on their finances.

What’s an improvement that you’ve made that helps your clients?

We recently implemented a process of benchmarking all plan provider fees and services including our own. For one client, this process led to a negotiation with their current provider. Parkwoods led the negotiation on behalf of the client and was able to reduce their recordkeeping and administration fees by 75% (a savings of $90,000 per year). We also lowered our advisory fees through this process by over 10%.

What’s a misconception that you often run into?

Getting a business owner to make a change to their retirement plan can often be very difficult because it is so far down on their priority list. When you suggest that they should hire you to be the plan advisor, they often hear a lot of disruption to their business. I like to find ways to show them how little of a disruption it will be to take us on as advisor and how we can help them improve one of their highest priorities—employee satisfaction.

What makes Parkwoods the right place for how you like to serve clients?

Parkwoods is focused on serving our clients the right way with exceptional service. I want our retirement plan services offering to be focused on what’s needed most for business owner clients and their employees to thrive.

What’s a question that you love to get from clients?

I love when clients express their uncertainty about their fiduciary responsibility. First, it means they have recognized they have a significant role to play in their plan and a desire to learn more. Second, it means they are looking to learn more and will likely see greater value in the services we provide to them.

What’s your favorite local spot in Austin?

The Historic Scoot Inn music venue is my favorite place to see a live show. I love live music, and this small outdoor venue is the perfect balance of size while attracting top artists. I have seen The Teskey Brothers, Yola, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and Yonder Mountain String Band to name a few.

If you’d like to explore how your company’s retirement plan could work better for owners and employees, just let us know.