Module: Scale your business

Roles and responsibilities

Growth stalls when roles are fuzzy and responsibilities fall through the cracks. As teams evolve, what once worked informally begins to break down, causing confusion, rework and bottlenecks. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls by defining the structure for a high-functioning team. Mapping responsibilities and help aligning them to individual strengths. Creating measurable expectations around key performance indicators (KPIs). These strategies can help your team walk away with a clear picture of what success looks like — and how individual roles contribute to the bigger picture.

 

According to 2025 Gallup data, managers influence up to 70% of the variability in team engagement. Ensuring your team has clarity on expectations can help them engage to the fullest. 

On this page

Creating clarity around roles (Insights)
Clarity of current roles (Self-check)
Match roles to team strengths (Primer)
Establish responsibilities and KPIs by role (Primer)
Roles and responsibilities worksheet (Tool)

“Understanding how their role fits into the broader organization — and how they can specialize in what they do — allows your team to deliver more value to clients and make sure there’s no stone unturned.”

— Max McQuiston, Advisor Practice Management Consultant at Capital Group

A 4-part path toward a high-performing practice, starting from ‘wearing too many hats,’ moving through ‘defining roles and expectations’ and ‘aligning responsibilities to strengths,’ and ending at ‘driving performance through accountability.’

In a world-class practice, each team member has a defined role, a clear set of responsibilities and measurable KPIs. These teams don’t just operate — they optimize. Roles are designed around strengths, duplication is eliminated and accountability becomes a natural part of the culture.

 

Take a look at the suggested responsibilities and KPIs for each role. Then use the tool in this lesson to help each of your team members identify their best-use activities and cross reference to minimize gaps and overlaps. 

INSIGHTS

Creating clarity around roles

In this video, Max McQuiston explains why clearly defining roles and responsibilities — and tying KPIs to them — helps you foster collaboration and meet your business objectives.

max-mcQuiston-headshot-600x600

Max McQuiston

Advisor Practice Management Consultant

4MINVIDEO

Primer

Match roles to team strengths

When roles are undefined, even the most talented teams can lose momentum. Work gets done, but not always by the right person. Deadlines are met, but often with extra steps, rework or stress. Some team members are overloaded, while others are unsure where to contribute. It’s not a people problem — it’s a structure problem.

 

As your practice grows, clarity becomes essential. When every team member understands their responsibilities, how success is measured and how their role supports the broader strategy, the entire practice becomes more focused, efficient and aligned.

That’s the power of well-defined roles and responsibilities. It’s not about writing better job descriptions. It’s about creating the conditions for performance, accountability and growth.

 

In a high-functioning team, roles are designed around strengths. Workflows are mapped to business priorities. Duplication is minimized or even eliminated. And team members can measure their contributions not by how busy they are, but by the impact they make.

 

This idea of impact is especially important to your high-performing team members. A clearly defined set of roles and responsibilities with the right accountability serves as a benchmark for their efforts — and for their recognition too.

 

This kind of clarity is rarely accidental. It starts with asking key questions:

  • Who owns which outcomes in your business today?
  • Where is responsibility clear — and where is it blurred?
  • How does each role contribute to business goals and how is that success measured?

 

These questions help reveal gaps, overlaps and opportunities to improve how your team operates. They may also help open the door to smarter delegation, more efficient time allocation and stronger alignment between people and priorities.

 

This lesson includes a guided tool to bring that clarity to life. You can choose the roles in your practice, customize responsibilities and metrics and walk away with a shareable framework that aligns your team around what matters most.

Primer

Establish responsibilities and KPIs by role

When every team member knows what they own and how success is measured, efficiency is bound to improve, accountability is likely to increase and your business should run with more intention. This guide outlines core responsibilities and key performance indicators (KPIs) for common roles, helping you build structure that supports scale.

Example responsibilities:

  • Manage and deepen relationships with top clients and families
  • Lead financial planning and investment strategy discussions
  • Guide business development and strategic growth initiatives
  • Supervise advisory team and align team goals with firm vision
  • Drive succession planning, partner development and talent strategy
  • Ensure client service aligns with brand and ideal client experience

 

Common KPIs:

  • Revenue per client or household
  • Assets under management growth (net flows, retention, consolidation)
  • Client retention and household longevity
  • Number of introductions, referrals or cross-family relationships
  • Share of wallet
  • Client satisfaction/net promoter score (NPS) from strategic clients
  • % of time spent on top-tier clients or high-impact activities
  • % change in assets and expenses

Example responsibilities:

  • Conduct plan research analysis, and modeling
  • Draft financial plans and update plan components
  • Prepare meeting materials and follow-up tasks
  • Participate in client meetings as appropriate
  • Coordinate with internal teams to implement client strategies
  • Support compliance documentation and recordkeeping

 

Common KPIs:

  • Number of plans drafted or updated
  • % of plans requiring revision or compliance edits
  • Accuracy of data inputs and modeling
  • Turnaround time on planning tasks
  • Client meeting prep timeliness and completeness
  • Internal feedback on readiness and reliability

Example responsibilities:

  • Respond to day-to-day client needs (transactions, requests, updates)
  • Manage scheduling, paperwork and client onboarding
  • Ensure accurate data entry and client record maintenance
  • Serve as primary liaison for operational and service items
  • Coordinate follow-ups to deliver a consistent client experience
  • Escalate service issues proactively and resolve them promptly

 

Common KPIs:

  • First response time / time to resolution
  • Client onboarding cycle time
  • Service request turnaround rate
  • Error rate in forms or documentation
  • Client feedback on service interactions
  • Internal efficiency score (e.g., average tasks per day)

Example responsibilities:

  • Oversee compliance, documentation and process adherence
  • Optimize systems (customer relationship management [CRM] software, planning tools, custodial platforms)
  • Manage SOPs and workflows for consistency and scale
  • Track and report key business metrics to advisors
  • Lead internal training and change management initiatives
  • Ensure vendor and tech tool performance aligns with business needs

 

Common KPIs:

  • Operational error or exception rate
  • Completion rate of compliance and regulatory tasks
  • CRM usage and data completeness
  • Turnaround time on key business processes (automated customer account transfer, onboarding)
  • System uptime, adoption and user feedback
  • Internal stakeholder satisfaction with workflows

Example responsibilities:

  • Create and manage marketing campaigns (digital, events, email)
  • Build and maintain referral networks and centers of influence
  • Monitor brand consistency and visibility across channels
  • Track inbound leads and conversion rates
  • Support content development (blog, social media, client comms)
  • Organize client appreciation and prospecting events

 

Common KPIs:

  • Number of qualified leads generated
  • Referral source contribution to new assets or households
  • Campaign performance metrics (open rate, click-through, conversion)
  • Event attendance and follow-up conversion
  • Website traffic and search engine optimization performance
  • Marketing spend return on investment

Example responsibilities:

  • Manage scheduling, calendar coordination and meeting logistics
  • Handle document collection, scanning and file organization
  • Support data entry, CRM updates and custodial forms
  • Coordinate travel and internal office logistics
  • Serve as a utility player for internal team support

 

Common KPIs:

  • Task and request completion rate
  • Calendar accuracy and utilization
  • Internal feedback from advisors and support staff
  • Speed and accuracy of document processing
  • CRM and system data hygiene

Example responsibilities:

  • Serve as the primary liaison for retirement plan sponsor clients
  • Deepen relationships with plan sponsors and centers of influence
  • Lead plan reviews, fiduciary meetings and education sessions
  • Coordinate plan design consulting and service provider engagement
  • Ensure plan service delivery aligns with sponsor goals and regulatory requirements
  • Identify opportunities for participant education and plan enhancements

 

Common KPIs:

  • Retention rate of retirement plan sponsor clients
  • Net new retirement plans acquired or retained
  • Number of sponsor meetings held (annual reviews, fiduciary check-ins)
  • Plan asset growth and participant engagement metrics
  • Client satisfaction/NPS from plan sponsors
  • Number of referrals or cross-selling opportunities from sponsor relationships

Example responsibilities:

  • Provide technical expertise on plan design, compliance and fiduciary standards
  • Support plan onboarding, conversions and service provider coordination
  • Deliver participant education sessions and 1:1 consultations
  • Assist advisors in addressing complex Employee Retirement Income Security Act and regulatory issues
  • Monitor plan health indicators and suggest improvements
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation and best practices

 

Common KPIs:

  • Accuracy and timeliness of plan setups and conversions
  • Number of participant education sessions delivered
  • Compliance issue resolution rate and turnaround time
  • Advisor and sponsor feedback on technical support
  • Participant engagement rates (education session attendance, contribution changes)
  • Internal service level agreement adherence for plan-related tasks
TOOL

Roles and responsibilities worksheet

Download

Other modules to choose from

Think like a CEO

 

Develop your team

 

Optimize the client experience

Other lessons in Scale your business

Streamline efforts using SOPs

 

Lead through clarity

Case studies

See what the theories above look like in real-world practice. Find insights, ideas and inspiration that make it easier to visualize your next move. 

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Tools and takeaways

What are your next steps to consider? Eliminate the guesswork with these action items that help you build and maintain momentum.

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For financial professionals only. Not for use with the public.
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This content, developed by Capital Group, home of American Funds, should not be used as a primary basis for investment decisions and is not intended to serve as impartial investment or fiduciary advice.