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Plan Confidence
Plan Confidence launched in 2016 in Sarasota, Florida, to solve a structural problem for independent RIAs: the bulk of their clients' retirement assets sit in...
Plan Confidence
Plan Confidence launched in 2016 in Sarasota, Florida, to solve a structural problem for independent RIAs: the bulk of their clients' retirement assets sit in employer-sponsored plans that advisory firms historically could not touch. The firm builds software that automates plan research, fiduciary compliance documentation, and participant-level advice generation for these held-away 401(k) accounts. The platform functions as an enterprise operating system that ingests plan data and produces personalized, ERISA-compliant recommendations across an entire advisory firm. The company cites industry-wide figures — over $14 trillion in held-away assets across 85 million accounts — to frame the addressable market. Plan Confidence's workflow replaces spreadsheets and PDF-based plan reviews with automated research and documentation, targeting the compliance departments that have historically blocked retirement advice due to ERISA fiduciary risk. The firm serves independent RIAs exclusively and positions its technology as a growth engine that converts an underserved asset base into billable advisory relationships. Team size and ownership structure remain undisclosed. No adjacent vehicles — such as philanthropic foundations or real-asset arms — have been identified. There are no publicly captured regulatory filings that disclose advisory headcount, affiliated broker-dealer relationships, or audited financials. Plan Confidence's structural distinction is its narrow focus on an operational compliance problem — automating ERISA fiduciary workflows for held-away assets — rather than competing as a generalist wealth-tech platform. The firm does not manage assets directly; it provides the software layer that allows existing RIAs to expand their client wallet share into employer-sponsored retirement accounts without adding compliance headcount.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
2016
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Sarasota
Corporate office
Sarasota, FL, United States
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Does Plan Confidence manage client assets directly?
No. Plan Confidence is a software provider, not an RIA itself. It supplies the operating system that independent RIAs use to analyze held-away 401(k) accounts and deliver advice. The underlying assets remain in the employer-sponsored plans; Plan Confidence's revenue model likely comes from licensing the platform to advisory firms, though pricing is not publicly disclosed.
How does Plan Confidence handle ERISA compliance?
The firm states that ERISA compliance is built into the platform's design, automating fiduciary workflows and generating documentation that supports the advice provided. This includes automated plan research and participant-level recommendation engines that produce an audit trail. The goal is to reduce the compliance department's fear of regulatory exposure, which has historically prevented RIAs from advising on 401(k) assets.
What is a held-away 401(k) account?
A held-away account is an employer-sponsored retirement plan — such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457 — that an individual holds through their current or former employer. These assets are not custodied at the RIA's preferred custodian, making them difficult for financial advisers to include in a unified wealth management strategy. Plan Confidence's technology specifically targets these orphaned pools of capital.
Who are Plan Confidence's primary competitors?
The firm operates in a niche where few purpose-built platforms exist. Potential competitors include portfolio accounting systems that add 401(k) aggregation features, or large wealth-tech providers offering held-away data feeds. No direct enterprise-software peer focused exclusively on automating ERISA-compliant 401(k) advice for RIAs has been publicly identified, but the competitive landscape is not well-documented in available sources.
Where is Plan Confidence headquartered and what is its founding story?
Plan Confidence was founded in 2016 and is based in Sarasota, Florida. The names of the founders and the specific background that led to the company's creation have not been publicly captured. The firm's origin appears rooted in the operational pain point of RIAs who wanted to offer comprehensive retirement advice but lacked scalable compliance tools.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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