[August 26, 2014]

Compass Financial Partners Expands Participant Financial Wellness Programs in Partnership with Financial Finesse

Compass (News - Alert) Financial Partners, LLC, a leading national investment and plan consulting advisory firm, announced today it has partnered with Financial Finesse, the nation's leading provider of unbiased workplace financial wellness programs, to provide plan sponsors with enhanced, comprehensive financial wellness programs designed to help employees better save and invest for retirement.

For Compass, this is an aggressive move to expand upon its growing financial wellness capabilities. Through its partnership with Financial Finesse, the firm will be providing retirement plan participants with robust financial wellness programs specifically designed to increase the amount employees defer into their retirement plan, improve investing behaviors, and reduce plan leakage such as plan loans and hardship withdrawals.

Financial Finesse will provide Compass Financial Partners with strategic consulting around its proprietary behavioral change education model, program design, and implementation so that Compass can expand its in-house financial wellness capabilities. Through the partnership, Compass Financial Partners will also be able to provide Financial Finesse's award-winning financial education to its clients at a discount in order to scale their programs with additional nation-wide phone-based financial coaching, customized benefits planning platforms, and 1x1 financial planning sessions for employees who are facing serious financial hardship.

Kathleen Kelly (News - Alert), Managing Partner of Compass Financial Partners, who heads the firm's retirement plan practice, says that the firm selected Financial Finesse based on the fact that it is the market leader in the rapidly growing financial wellness industry, with a 15 year track record for changing participant behavior. "When we looked at the data, the decision became clear. Financial Finesse has proven ROI studies substantiating the success of their model, as well behavioral change rates that show 89% of participants making major financial changes as the result of their education, most notably in reducing debt, cutting expenses, and saving more for retirement."

Kelly notes that the ultimate success of company-sponsored retirement plans depends on whether or not employees are able to retire comfortably, and on their desired timeframe. "In this industry, we talk a lot about investment options and plan design, and both are very important. But to really move the needle, you have to change the way participants manage their money."

Liz Davidson, CEO of Financial Finesse, notes that the firm does not make a practice of working in this capacity with individual retirement plan advisors, but that Compass Financial Partners stood out in the crowded field of retirement plan advisors, based on what the firm was already doing, and the progress it had achieved.

avidson notes that Compass Financial Partners has been awarded several coveted industry awards within the last decade, notably winning the 2014 401(k) Advisor Leadership Award* (sponsored by the National Association of Plan Advisors), being named to the 2013 & 2014 PLANADVISER Top 100 Adviser Listing**, and being named to 401kwire.com's 2011 listing of the "300 Most Influential Advisors in Defined Contribution"***. Kelly and her team are also major influencers in the rapidly changing industry - she is frequently sought out as a speaker and thought leader for industry councils, including the Principal Financial Professional Advisor Council, the Prudential Advisor Council, the MassMutual Retirement Partners Council, the Transamerica (News - Alert) Retirement Solutions RIA Advisory Board, the J.P. Morgan Advisor Council and the Retirement Advisor Council.

About Compass Financial Partners, LLC

Compass Financial Partners provides independent, objective retirement plan consulting and investment advisory services to plan sponsors across the United States. From recordkeeper search and selection and vendor fee benchmarking; to investment due diligence and employee communications, Compass Financial Partners' process-driven suite of fiduciary services provides the resources necessary to help employers work towards successful retirement plan programs. Founded with a vision to offer high-quality consulting services independent of the service provider, Compass Financial Partners is based in Greensboro, N.C., and is an affiliate of LPL Financial. For more information, visit www.CompassFP.com.

About Financial Finesse

Financial Finesse is an unbiased workplace financial education company providing personalized and innovative financial wellness, retirement preparedness and financial coaching programs to over 600,000 employees at over 500 organizations. Financial Finesse partners with organizations to provide these programs as an employee benefit and reach strategic goals such as reducing fiduciary liability, increasing employee plan participation, decreasing stress, and increasing productivity through its proprietary approach to financial education. Financial Finesse does not sell products nor manage assets. For more information, visit www.financialfinesse.com.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA), is the nation's largest independent broker-dealer (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine, June 1996-2014), a top RIA custodian and an independent consultant to retirement plans. LPL Financial offers proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 13,400 financial advisors and approximately 700 financial institutions. In addition, LPL Financial supports more than 4,600 financial advisors licensed with insurance companies by providing customized clearing, advisory platforms and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have approximately 3,000 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego.

For more information, please visit www.lpl.com.

*The 401(k) Advisor Leadership Award considers all aspects of the financial advisor's(s') business practices in making its determination of the advisors that are presented to the Award Judging Committee (AJC). Important criteria include: Business focus on retirement as measured by total percentage or revenue derived from retirement assets under advisement and plans managed. Experience level of the individual financial advisor or the team of financial advisors. Demonstrated leadership contributions to the industry and clients by the individual financial advisor or the team of financial advisors. Measurable results achieved with plan sponsors and with plan participants. Good standing with regulatory and industry governance.

**The PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year awards are based on both qualitative and quantitative factors. The most successful lists are drawn solely from a smaller set of quantitative factors and information supplied by the advisers themselves.

***According to 401kWire, this ranking is based on nominations from across the financial services industry as well as from their editorial staff. The final list was based on more than 120,000 reader votes in 2011 as well as input from distributors working with the advisors, honorees of last year's 401kWire Top 40 Advisors ranking, and an analysis of objective criteria including statistics about the advisors' practices which was obtained directly from all of the nominated advisors. **The advisers listed here are taken from entries for the 2013/2014 PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Adviser and Adviser Team of the Year awards. To enter the awards process, nominees must complete a form providing various details of their practice. The PLANADVISER Top 100 is based solely on quantitative factors.

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