2025 Top Retirement Plan Adviser: Loraine Montanye

Loraine Montanye

This year, PLANADVISER followed up with advisers on the 2025 Top Retirement Plan Advisers listing to get to know them better. These are the responses from Loraine Montanye of DBR & CO in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

PLANADVISER: What does it take to be a successful retirement plan adviser in 2025?

Montanye: To be successful today, advisers must do more than monitor investments and benchmark fees—they must bring clarity, confidence and continuity to plan sponsors navigating a complex fiduciary landscape. For me, that means proactively guiding committees through decisions with the Department of Labor’s expectations in mind, translating technical issues into plain language and delivering advice that’s both compliant and practical. It also means recognizing that retirement plans are more than just workplace benefits—they are key drivers of financial wellness and employee retention. Helping clients balance fiduciary prudence with workforce strategy is core to how I define success.

PLANADVISER: Has the focus or character of your practice shifted meaningfully over time to respond to evolving client demands, market pressures or the emergence of new technologies?

Montanye: Absolutely. Over the past few years, we’ve shifted intentionally toward a fiduciary consulting model that integrates plan design, compliance oversight, investment due diligence and employee education into one cohesive service. We’ve also moved away from legacy revenue-sharing arrangements, helping our clients transition to zero-revenue-share lineups and adopt more transparent fee structures. Additionally, we’ve embraced tools that support paperless enrollment, targeted participant messaging and plan health dashboards—giving sponsors actionable insights, not just reports. These changes weren’t made for novelty’s sake—they were driven by our clients’ growing expectation for tailored service and outcomes-based advice.

PLANADVISER: How do you balance the desire to grow with the need to keep clients happy?

Montanye: Our growth has been a byproduct of client satisfaction, not the other way around. We believe the best marketing is a well-run retirement plan and a client who feels supported through every phase—from onboarding to audits to M&A activity. As a result, most of our growth has come through client referrals, centers of influence and plan sponsor networks. We also measure capacity carefully; we won’t take on new relationships if doing so would compromise the service experience for our existing clients. That discipline has helped us grow sustainably and protect the integrity of our work.

PLANADVISER: What are the most challenging aspects of the job? What are the most enjoyable?

Montanye: One of the most challenging aspects is helping clients navigate competing stakeholder interests—especially when business owners, HR leaders and finance executives have different perspectives on plan priorities. The enjoyable part is earning their trust and creating alignment by guiding them back to the core fiduciary obligations and their workforce goals. I also genuinely enjoy the educational component—whether that’s helping a participant understand Roth contributions or presenting to a committee on SECURE 2.0 provisions. Retirement plans touch so many lives, and it’s a privilege to be in a role where the work can directly impact someone’s future financial security.

PLANADVISER: For those plan sponsors looking for a new plan adviser, describe what makes your firm stand out.

Montanye: We’re known for being highly engaged, highly technical and highly human. We don’t just show up quarterly with a repetitive report—we partner with our clients throughout the year to ensure fiduciary decisions are well-informed, well-documented and aligned with best practices. Our clients have direct access to experienced consultants, not just vaguely defined service teams.

What truly sets us apart is the trust we build: Clients who initially engage us for retirement plan advisory often go on to seek our support in other areas—like workplace financial planning, executive benefits or individual wealth management. That continued engagement reflects the confidence they have in our advice and the value we deliver. We take that trust seriously and strive to make every client feel like their plan is our top priority—because it is.

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