FROM LEFT: Sara Poppe, Jeff Croat, John Schaetzel, Matthew Demet, Joanne Tomczak, Cheryl Stoehr, Jonathan Marshall, James Marshall, Manuel Rosado, Angie Franzone, Mike McDonald, Debbie Schaefer, Brian White, Donna Allen, Dave Marshall NOT PICTURED: Sue Weeden, Scott Schwartz, Laura Schnoor

PA: What is your mission statement?

Spectrum Investment Advisors: Our mission is to maximize the retirement benefit program within an organization by providing unbiased investment and consulting solutions. We empower plan participants in their retirement readiness with individualized coaching, education and execution, utilizing our patented color-coded investment concept.

PA: How is your team/process/structure unique?

SIA: We are unique in the following areas:

1. Our patented Spectrum Investor^® Communication Process uses the simplicity of colors to communicate investing, as illustrated by our tagline: “Colors Simplify Investing^®”; 
2. Thousands of one-on-one employee meetings nationwide, where we act in a fiduciary advisory role to the plan participant;
3. Retirement coaches—seasoned investors who have retired from successful careers help others to do the same. They provide a distinct, holistic perspective by sharing their lifetime investment experiences;
4. Custom benchmarking tools, including our patent-pending Spectrum SIRRP [Spectrum Investor^™ Relative Risk and Performance] Score^®, to aid plan sponsors in administering their plans as a fiduciary adviser;
5. Our seven shareholders, who are ethnically and gender-diverse as well as multigenerational, bring over 150 years of combined retirement plan experience and also contribute bilingual capabilities in Spanish;
6. Advancement of the retirement-planning cause by several of our team members, who are involved at the local and national level in organizations such as the board of directors of Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals Ltd. (WRPPL), Retirement Plan Advisor Council, NAPA 401(k) Summit Steering Committee, and Washington Fly-In Program; and
7. Retirement industry leadership, by serving as panelists and speakers at industry events and achieving leading certifications such as Certified Behavioral Finance Analyst and Global Fiduciary Steward.

PA: What are the most important issues your plan sponsors face with their company retirement plan, and what specific actions do you take to assist them in overcoming those issues?

SIA: Time and time again we hear about a lack of participant engagement, high levels of distributions from the plan, and an inability to properly benchmark fees and services.

We engage participants in the process through a variety of methods, such as mandatory one-on-one meetings with our retirement coaches, and utilize behavioral finance principles in plan design, such as auto-enrollment and auto-increases. We also educate participants in post-retirement strategies by conducting topic-specific training seminars for their retirement phase. Our patented color-coded materials help simplify the process.

By working with multiple recordkeepers, we are able to offer the most efficient investment alternatives for cost purposes, and we use custom benchmarking materials to compare the services offered to the plan. We have successfully changed fee structures and service models to not only better serve our clients but also lower the total plan cost.

PA: Please describe any special education or communication initiatives you’ve undertaken with plan sponsors or participants.

SIA: We recently launched the Spectrum Investor^® Coffee House Educational Series. With a vision of incorporating a coffeehouse approach to our new building, we’ve created a comfortable atmosphere where our clients can come in and learn. Our topics include economic reviews, financial planning strategies such as maximizing Social Security and Medicare, long-term care insurance and estate planning.

PA: As a retirement plan adviser, what do you take the most pride in?

SIA: Our team’s relentless passion for making a difference through participant education has resulted in many of our customers becoming advocates, exemplified by our average customer retention of 98% for the past 14 years. 

BUSINESS AT A GLANCE

PLAN ASSETS UNDER ADVISEMENT: $1.3 billion

MEDIAN PLAN SIZE (IN ASSETS): $9.2 million

TOTAL PLANS UNDER ADVISEMENT: 115

TOTAL PARTICIPANTS IN PLANS SERVED: 20,000