As a 401(k) Investment Advisor at The Fiduciary Group, Colin Duvall works with retirement plan sponsors and participants to help make company retirement plans more understandable and accessible.
His role includes supporting the business operating the plan while also working directly with employees as they make important decisions about retirement savings. For Colin, that balance between structure and personal guidance is what makes the work meaningful.
Before joining TFG, Colin spent much of his career in management roles, working closely with employees and supporting their professional growth. That experience gave him a practical appreciation for meeting people where they are and communicating clearly and approachably.
While TFG is often known for its work with families, business owners, and high-net-worth clients, Colin’s role gives the firm another way to support businesses and the employees who rely on their retirement plans. Today, much of his work centers on helping bridge the gap between plan sponsors, providers, and participants so the plan can work more effectively in practice.
Colin describes his role as twofold.
With plan sponsors, he and the team meet regularly with companies to review the plan, evaluate provisions, discuss regulatory changes, and ensure participants are served well. As an investment fiduciary, TFG provides investment oversight, makes investment-related decisions and informs plan sponsors when changes are made.
With participants, Colin’s work is more personal and educational. He helps employees understand the investment options inside the plan, think through retirement decisions, and consider savings strategies based on where they are in their careers and financial lives.
For many participants, Colin is a primary point of connection to the retirement plan. He engages employees through presentations, virtual education sessions, one-on-one meetings, and direct outreach.
Participant questions often depend on a person’s stage of life. Some want to know whether they can retire or how much they may need. Others want to understand pre-tax versus Roth contributions, investment options, or whether they should save outside their 401(k).
Colin’s view is that there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Meaningful guidance requires knowing more than the account balance. It often starts with understanding what else is happening in someone’s financial life.
Colin believes companies often overlook the importance of aligning goals across stakeholders. The person managing the plan day to day may see its purpose differently than the business owner, HR leader, or committee does, and clarifying decision-maker intentions early shapes how a plan is structured, communicated, and supported. For some companies, the focus is maximizing owner contributions; for others, it's providing a strong employee benefit, improving participation, or helping employees feel more prepared for retirement.
This is where TFG's broader approach comes in: strong recommendations begin with understanding the full picture. For a business, that means understanding ownership, related entities, employee groups, and the company's goals for the plan. For participants, it means understanding what they're saving for, where they are in their career, and what retirement readiness looks like for their life. Colin sees value in helping plan sponsors clarify these goals early, so the plan can be managed and communicated with intention.
Outside the office, Colin is drawn to endurance challenges. He recently completed the IRONMAN 70.3 Gulf Coast, an event that includes swimming, biking, and running.
While Colin is naturally drawn to distance running and ultra-marathons, the challenge of completing an IRONMAN appealed to him. The experience also reinforced a principle he sees often in retirement planning: large goals become more achievable when they are broken into smaller, consistent steps.
Most people cannot complete an endurance event tomorrow, just as most people cannot save everything they need for retirement all at once. Progress comes from building habits gradually, saving regularly, increasing contributions over time, and staying committed through different seasons of life.
As he looks ahead, Colin is excited about continuing to expand TFG’s retirement plan work and broadening the support the firm provides to both new and existing plans.
What motivates him most is the opportunity to make a meaningful difference for business owners and the employees who work for them. His focus is not on offering services for their own sake, but on helping retirement plans improve in ways that are genuinely useful to who they serve.
Whether Colin is supporting a company retirement plan, helping a participant make better retirement decisions, or training for an endurance event, his approach centers on clear goals, incremental progress, and consistent follow-through.
For retirement plan participants, those small steps may not feel dramatic in the moment. But over time, they can help build confidence and create meaningful progress toward a larger goal.
Learn more about Colin’s role and experience: Meet Colin Duvall.