MissionSquare Retirement, a Washington, D.C.-based retirement plan product provider focused on government employees, is expanding its personal wealth management services.
The firm will offer brokerage accounts (including individual retirement accounts and taxable accounts), as well as a robo-advisor that supports IRAs and taxable, non-qualified investment accounts.
MissionSquare manages and administers over $73.6 billion in assets, focusing on 457(b), 403(b), and 401(a) retirement plans for public-sector employees, including those at state and city governments.
As part of the move, the firm will appoint Shannon Hogendorn as head of wealth management to lead its rebranded broker/dealer subsidiary. MissionSquare Wealth Management will work with Apex Fintech Solutions, using its Ascend Investor product in offering self-directed and robo-investing options, while custodying through Apex Clearing.
According to the Form ADV filed by the firm late last month, which details its financial planning services, the customized financial plans will be created by a CFP-certified representative, with participants eligible for an update every 12 months (or sooner if the firm determines that a participant has had a “life-changing event”). The advisor-generated report is a “point-in-time” service, with the investment advisor representatives not monitoring participants’ accounts or planning needs.
According to Fred Bartstein, the CEO and founder of The Retirement Adviser and Plan Sponsor Universities, MissionSquare is following in the footsteps of other record keepers, likely seeking to boost profits with the higher margins possible in wealth services (and amid declining recordkeeping fees).
While the field is competitive (with Fidelity, Vanguard and Empower among those record keepers boosting their wealth business), Barstein noted that MissionSquare benefits from the relative lack of competition in the public-sector space. There, the firm is “dominant,” with a significant potential client base of public-sector-affiliated workers totaling in the millions.
“So there’s not as much urgency, but why not? If you’re there and you have relationships and access to the participants, why not offer this?” Barstein asked, though he cautioned that if the offerings were limited to self-directed brokerage and robo-advisory approaches, the effect on the bottom line would likely be “minimal.”
In April 2025, MissionSquare hired Betsy Schroeder as head of retail products to bolster the firm’s personal wealth options, with a focus on out-of-plan offerings (including investment products, emergency savings, high-yield savings, education accounts, IRA accounts and self-service planning). Schroeder joined the firm from her prior role as head of investment product and relationship management at MassMutual.
