PlanSponsor magazine recently announced its annual list of "Most Successful Retirement Plan Advisers" - and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors took 13 spots across a number of categories. The magazine also named a Morgan Stanley finalist for the Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year award.

PlanSponsor, which has been covering the pension industry since 1993, established the Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year Award to "recognize the contributions of the nation's best financial advisers in helping make retirement security a reality for workers across the nation." The Kelliher Group at Morgan Stanley - which includes Stephen Kelliher, Joseph McLaughlin and Bennett White - from Norwell, Massachusetts was announced as a finalist for the Retirement Plan Adviser Team of the Year, which will be announced in New York City on April 2.

The editors also acknowledged those nominees who stood out from the others in the "Most Successful Retirement Plan Advisers" list as measured by "dollar value of qualified plan assets under advisement, number of plans, and specialties in areas other than 401(k)."

The other areas include 403(b) programs, defined benefit plans, nonqualified deferred compensation programs and more. Financial Advisors found success in focusing their efforts on automatic enrollment, contribution acceleration, ongoing participant education and enrollment meetings. There were eight Morgan Stanley standouts included in this list.

Collectively, the industry leaders named on this year's PlanSponsor list represent $104.6bn in assets under advisement and serve more than 2.7 million participants.

The Retirement & Equity Solutions Group would like to extend their congratulations to these Financial Advisors for their hard work and dedication to their clients and the Firm.