PLANADVISER: How do you incorporate purpose or mission into your day-to-day work?
Raynor: My North Star is helping those approaching retirement to retire with dignity. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to conduct hundreds of one-on-one meetings with plan participants seeking guidance on their financial situations. Unfortunately, many are not fully prepared and have not saved enough. Collectively, plan sponsors, consultants and recordkeepers work to mitigate that risk. As one of the core tenets of investing teaches us, small, positive changes can compound over time. As a steward of plan participants, I can help identify those small adjustments that may ultimately accumulate into meaningful progress. The Golden Years will bring their own set of challenges; our collective mission should be to ensure that retirement readiness is not one of them.
PLANADVISER: What outside interests or experiences have influenced how you approach your career?
Raynor: In my early 20s, I performed improvisational comedy in Chicago, often on weekend nights in front of large, raucous crowds. Like most things in life, improv is a skill honed through experience. Over time, I learned that one of the traits that separates a strong performer from an average one is the ability to slow down and truly listen. Listening is active. It requires attention not only to what is said, but also to how it is said. An audience becomes engaged when it senses that the performer is comfortable, confident and genuinely present in the moment. When those elements come together, humor often follows naturally.
That lesson has carried over into my career in investment research. When discussing granular or esoteric topics, it is not enough to simply recite facts or rely on prepared talking points. The more difficult, and ultimately more rewarding, skill is forming a genuine connection with plan sponsors and committee members. Strong relationships are built through active listening, presence and recommendations offered through a thoughtful and authentic lens.
PLANADVISER: What’s your favorite book or podcast?
Raynor: One of the books I cherish is “Grant,” by Ron Chernow. General Grant embodied the American spirit. His unpretentious leadership style, steady presence and innate battlefield wisdom helped win the Civil War. There are countless lessons to draw from his life: dogged determination, calmness under pressure, humility and the ability to lead from the front. What makes Grant especially compelling is that his rise was anything but inevitable. As a young man, he was often underestimated, and after serving in the Mexican-American War, his life drifted through a series of personal and professional failures. Yet he held fast to his principles. When the Civil War created the moment, Grant’s character and talents met the occasion. Chernow opens the biography with Walt Whitman’s fitting words: “What a man he is! What a history!” Truer words are hard to find.