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Try Smart401k free for 30 days to see if it is the right advice option for you. Use the code SMARTOFFER during registration.
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It only takes 10 minutes to set up an account. You'll receive your tailored recommendation within 1 - 3 days.
Price
Membership fees are $59 paid quarterly or $199.95 paid annually.
Our Investment Approach
Our methodology, created by CIO Adam Bold, is designed to create a recommendation that matches your Investor Profile. We don't attempt to choose all of the best-performing investments from
your plan each quarter because the
consequences of unexpected market fluctuations can be dire for people using that investment strategy. Instead, we advocate a long-term investment
approach. There are three major components to the Smart401k approach.
(1) Assessing Your Investor Profile
We assess your situation and create an Investor Profile based on your answers to our questionnaire, which is designed to determine how you feel about investing now and how your feelings might change as market conditions change. Your time horizon, risk tolerance and investment goals are the determining factors in your Investor Profile. As your personal situation evolves, we'll help you update your profile. Your Investor Profile is a very important element of our recommendation process because it allows us to make a recommendation that makes you comfortable with your investment risk.
(2) Determining the Optimal Allocation
Asset allocation refers to the way you distribute your money among the various asset classes like International Stock Funds, Small/Mid-cap Stock Funds, Large-cap stock Funds, Bond Funds and Short-term Fixed Income. Based on your Investor Profile and our ongoing analysis of market conditions and the global economy, we develop an asset allocation that we believe will best fit your situation. To determine your optimal mix, we use the concepts of Modern Portfolio Theory and the Efficient Frontier.
- Modern Portfolio Theory* – The theory, first published in the 1950s, formalizes and advocates the practice of diversifying across a variety of investment types. The chief benefit of diversification is a reduction in portfolio risk – diversification is the opposite of putting all your eggs in one basket.
- The Efficient Frontier* – An element of Modern Portfolio Theory, financial analysts use this equation to determine which funds that have the highest expected return for a specific level of investment risk.
(3) Selecting the Right Funds
Once we know which asset classes will work best for your Investor Profile, we need to select appropriate funds from within those asset classes. Many work retirement plans offer multiple funds from each asset class. To choose the best funds for you, our advisers use a proprietary fund selection methodology that considers factors such as:
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The fund manager's track record
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Consistency of performance across multiple time periods
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Performance of the fund against others in the same category
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Risk factors
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Expenses
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The overall ethics and stewardship of the fund family
The Result: Your Unique Plan
The result of our process is a specific recommendation that combines Smart401k analysis, your Investor Profile and the funds available in your retirement plan. Each calendar quarter, we will update your recommendation based on changes in market conditions and our ongoing monitoring of the funds in your plan.