For founders of retirement plan firms wondering what comes next, whether that’s stepping back or growing further. We’d like to help you get it right. Many of us have sat exactly where you are.
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Bob Presberg
Founder of Presberg Pensions, which joined Prime in 2025
One founder’s story
Every firm that joins Prime has a founder behind it, and a story that probably sounds a lot like yours. Bob is an actuary who founded Presberg Pensions in Westlake Village, California. In 2025, after a lifetime in the profession, he decided what came next. Here is how he got there.
1983
Having started his actuarial career in Boston, Bob moves to California. He spends the next twenty years learning the business at other firms, and learning what kind of firm he’d build himself.
2003
He opens Presberg Pensions in Westlake Village. It’s his name on the door now, and his phone that rings.
21 years
The firm grows mostly by referral. Some of the clients who signed on that first year are still with him two decades later.
2024
He starts to think about how a bigger firm could provide more value to his staff and his clients, while he stays involved to maintain and build new relationships.
2025
Presberg Pensions joins Prime. The team and the office stay where they are, and Bob still serves his clients.
I didn’t want to sell to someone who would fold us into a call center. I wanted a partner who would keep our people together and keep the service personal.”
Long before anyone talks numbers, founders want to know that what they built will outlast the handoff.
“Day to day, very little changed for our clients. That was the point.”
Bob PresbergPresberg PensionsYour clients keep the people they know, in the same office, working on the same plans. What changes is the depth behind them.
“Our whole team stayed, and they got training, career paths and help at year end they never had before.”
Debbie SmithNorthwest Retirement Plan ConsultantsYour team stays together and gains a bench of specialists, so nobody carries filing season alone.
“I still run our office and I still sit down with my clients. I just don’t do payroll at midnight anymore.”
Heidi BigleyPension Planners NorthwestYes. Some founders lead their office for years; others step back gradually. We agree on your role together from the start.
“I wish I’d started the conversation a year earlier. It’s easier to decide when nothing is forcing you to.”
Tim RaymondThe Raymond CompanyThere’s rarely a perfect moment. The founders who feel best about it talked to us early, while the decision was entirely theirs.
Founders come to us at different points. Some are ready to hand the firm on. Others want room to grow it.
If you’re ready to hand it on
You’ve earned the right to step back, knowing the people who trusted you will be looked after.
We build the succession around your clients and your team, on a timeline you set. You can hand off at closing, or stay on for a season to see everyone settled.
Debbie Smith
Co-founder, Northwest Retirement Plan Consultants. Now Regional President
If you’re not done yet
“We weren’t looking to step away. We wanted resources to grow, and a bigger role in what came next.”
Keep leading your clients and your office. We take on the back office and bring the capital to grow, and you keep a stake in what Prime becomes.
These founders made the move, and every one of them is still here, serving clients across the country.
Heidi Bigley
Pension Planners Northwest
Joined 2021
Debbie Smith
Northwest Retirement Plan Consultants
Joined 2022
Martin Smith
Northwest Retirement Plan Consultants
Joined 2022
Marc Roberts
Associated Pension Consultants
Joined 2022
David Strom
Aldrich Retirement Solutions
Joined 2022
Bob Presberg
Presberg Pensions
Joined 2025
Bill Raymond
The Raymond Company
Joined 2026
Tim Raymond
The Raymond Company
Joined 2026
Your client relationships, your standards of service, your reputation in your market and your judgment on plan design.
Finance and billing, HR, IT and cybersecurity, compliance infrastructure, capacity during filing season, and training and career paths for your staff.
A confidential call, then time getting to know each other, then a plan built around you. Integration happens side by side with your team, at your clients’ pace.
Whenever you’re ready, I’d like to hear your story—how it started, and what you want for the people you’ll hand it to.
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