The Word About Newsletters

Art by Polly Becker

Electronic newsletters are a popular, easy, inexpensive way to convey a message, be it news, education or to just say: “We want to connect.” Many retirement plan sponsors issue them monthly or quarterly, to educate participants on the value of their plan and investing, as well as to build a relationship with them. The medium is particularly helpful for advisers to large plans who cannot reach out to each participant. Some advisers even use them to communicate to sponsor clients.

Adviser firms can create such newsletters on their own or turn to an outside service for content. Spectrum Investment Advisors has produced newsletters for participants for the past 15 years, says Manual Rosado, vice president and partner with the practice, in Mequon, Wisconsin.

“It’s all about education,” Rosado says. “We want to educate participants and sponsors and provide a level of confidence in our firm as experts on the market and retirement.”

The newsletters Spectrum creates cover three basic areas. The first is a market update, written by Jim Marshall, president, and Jonathan Marshall, chief investment officer (CIO). Second, one of the practice’s wealth managers writes on investing topics such as rebalancing one’s account or what to do when the market becomes volatile, Rosado says.

Finally, a Spectrum administrative assistants writes, in clear and straightforward language, a section covering more basic investing topics such as streamlining your portfolio. “It’s called ‘In Other Words’ and is designed so that the average employee can relate to it if the [second] section is over their head,” Rosado says. For instance, it may discuss rebalancing, more simply.

As another client service, Spectrum hosts coffeehouse seminars, and then it summarizes the discussions in the plan sponsor’s newsletter. Additionally, when the market is volatile, the practice distributes a special issue to keep participants focused on their long-term goals and committed to their allocations, Rosado says.

Like many other advisers that issue newsletters for participants, Spectrum forwards them to the client to distribute. Thus, Rosado does not know what the “open rate” is. However, the ones Spectrum sends to its wealth management clients typically get a 50% open rate, which is quite high, he observes.

Based on the client, advisers should send them a newsletter twice a year to as often as monthly, says Mike Lynch, vice president, strategic markets at Hartford Funds in Charlotte, North Carolina. The key is keeping the content relevant to participants. For the most part, he says, “they want to be educated and connected to tools and resources” that will help them improve their retirement outlook.

“Newsletters show your value—that you care and are involved,” Lynch says.
Wintrust Wealth Management has taken such stock in newsletters that it writes one for participants monthly plus an occasional one for sponsors, says Dan Peluse, director of retirement plan services at the practice in Chicago. For content, Wintrust turns to its RPAG porting tool. “It’s sometimes difficult getting meetings with our plan sponsor clients,” Peluse says. “These newsletters create peace of mind among our clients that we’re on top of regulatory issues, and, often, they motivate our clients to reach out to us.”

The participant newsletters cover a plethora of investing topics. “This broadens our relationship with the participants and helps them think of us as a financial coach,” he says.