Brian Shannon has over twelve years of experience in the defined contribution retirement plan industry and has extensive knowledge of defined contribution retirement plan operations, financial operations, financial planning & analysis, the sales and client retention process, recordkeeping pricing and fees, fee leveling, revenue sharing, investment fees and share classes.  As co-owner of ClearSage Advisory Group, Brian currently provides consulting services in the defined contribution retirement plan and asset management industries as well as consulting services focused on advanced financial modeling and financial database services.  Brian completed the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist, (CRPS) program offered through the College for Financial Planning demonstrating his dedication to serving the retirement plan industry.  Most recently, Brian completed the Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor program offered through the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) signifying his expertise in retirement plan fiduciary considerations.

​

Before joining ClearSage Advisory Group, Brian spent over eleven years at T. Rowe Price from September 2006 until March 2018, holding several different positions including retirement plan operational roles, retirement sales, sales support, finance, pricing and product strategy.  Through his experience leading the Pricing Governance function, Brian gained expertise in topics related to retirement plan pricing, market analysis and trends, recordkeeping fees and fee leveling, investment fees, revenue sharing, cost allocation methods and practices, and advanced financial modeling, planning & analysis specifically related to the defined contribution recordkeeping business. 

 

While at T. Rowe Price, Brian was a key contributor to the development of an industry leading fee leveling product designed to return revenue sharing to participant accounts in an equitable and efficient manner.  Brian also developed advanced negotiation skills and coached the relationship management team during critical negotiations.  During his last year with T. Rowe Price as VP of Product Strategy, Brian was responsible for preparing and presenting product strategy and pricing decisions with significant revenue impact (>$500k) to the Product Strategy Committee, comprised of C-Suite executives.  In this role he led the initiative to implement Performance Based Investment Management Fees for the firm.  Brian currently leverages these skills through ClearSage Advisory Group, serving the defined contribution retirement plan industry with his deep expertise in recordkeeping pricing and related fees, investment fees, revenue sharing, fee leveling and the recordkeeping benchmarking and search process.

​

Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Salisbury University. 

 

While working for T. Rowe Price Brian passed the Principal/Supervisory Exam (Series 24 - General Securities Principal Examination), the General Industry/Products Exam (Series 7 - General Securities Representative Examination), and the Maryland State Securities Law Exam (Series 66 - Uniform Combined State Law Examination).