FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Who is StraightLine?
A:
StraightLine, a Michigan company, was created in 2002 for the sole purpose of advising and managing employee's portfolios while they are enrolled in their plan. The founders who developed StraightLine came from different Wall Street firms with substantial experience in portfolio management to offer completely unbiased institutional research to the participants.
Q:
Why did UF choose StraightLine?
A:
After an analysis and due diligence review, StraightLine was chosen for its research capabilities, substantial service and communication platforms, and complete dedication to always act in the best interest of the UF employees. Our research staff is very experienced and dedicated and our advisors are there to provide the best service possible.
Q: What exactly do you do?
A: We have two programs that are available to UF employees: A do it for you program, Pro(b), that allows us to manage the retirement accounts for you, and an advice only program, ProAdvice, that sends you our portfolio adjustments so that you can continue manage the accounts on your own.
Q: Why would I want anyone to manage my account?
A:
Statistically, employees who manage accounts on their own dramatically under perform the S&P Index. For the last 20 years the average mutual fund equity investor garnered a full 7% less per year than the S&P Index. There are many reasons but the most predominant are: lack of time, lack of experience, emotional decision making, and apathy.
The institutional research tools that we employ not only allow us to choose the most appropriate manager in any sector for portfolio construction, they also give us the ability to constantly monitor the managers to ensure that any adjustments necessary are done as quickly as possible.
Q: I do pretty well on my own even though statistics show the average person does not. Is there any reason I should consider StraightLine?
A: We wholeheartedly support the efforts of the investing public to take greater control of their retirement assets. The “Advice Only” product was created for two reasons: one, to give the participants a window into how a professional manager would be managing the accounts and two, to allow the participant to run retirement “what if” scenarios that permit the employee to theoretically adjust certain variables like savings rate, return percentages, and retirement dates.
But the truth is unless you have the time and research available it just makes sense to let a research team that acts solely on your behalf handle the responsibility. Over time the prudent and diligent practices we employ will make a big difference.
Q: My financial advisor does it for me for free. Why would I choose StraightLine over him/her?
A: The research required to manage these accounts on an ongoing basis takes a 100% commitment to these accounts alone. That's exactly what we do.
Q: UF has numerous investment options from which to choose. Do you take all of them into consideration?
A: Yes. The key to long term performance of any portfolio is managing risk and return. Ideally, you want the best return for the least amount of risk (called “the efficient frontier”). Risk can be controlled by building a well diversified portfolio. Return is found in choosing the most appropriate managers for each sector (large, mid, small cap, international, commodities, etc). StraightLine exhaustively reviews each investment to find the best available managers which help us achieve both directives.
Q: How’s your performance?
A: That's the number one question we get asked and the one thing you should remember is that investing is about prudent practices consistently applied. What that means is that if our research is good – which it is, our timeliness and effectiveness are good – which they are, and our constant monitoring is good, performance has and will follow. Our goal is to beat the correlative benchmarks and we have done very well in that regard across all plans.
Q: By signing up for your service does that mean I can expect home run returns?
A: We can say this about expectations. We are a research firm and not a sales firm, and as such, we construct and monitor portfolios to allow you to have a well diversified portfolio made up of the most appropriate managers in each sector.
Performance is a direct result of this effort but as is human nature, we get calls from people suggesting that if we would have been smarter we would have put all our eggs in the small cap sector for example. We are not that firm – and truthfully there is no such firm. Your retirement account is extremely important to you and it is vital to us. Therefore we will be tremendous stewards of your trust.
Q: What can we expect from StraightLine?
Face-to-Face Meetings
In a time when Wall Street has all but abandoned personal service for average investors, StraightLine is firmly rooted in the philosophy that no one should trust their investments to someone they haven't met. That is why a face-to-face meeting with each client is the foundation of our company. We encourage you to contact us anytime you have a question regarding your account.
Individual Enrollment Meetings— Risk Assessment
We will schedule individual one-on-one meetings to ask you a series of simple questions that will help to clarify how much risk you are willing to accept and what your goal for the account is. We'll analyze your retirement plan and create a personalized portfolio that is fully diversified and in line with your goals and risk profile.
Quarterly Statements & Newsletters
You will receive quarterly updates from our experienced research team. In addition to statements regarding personal account balances and activity, our clients learn what we're seeing in the marketplace and how different political and economic events could affect their investments.
Constant Monitoring & Portfolio Updates
Our research team will actively manage your retirement account and make changes to your account as market conditions warrant. Any time we make a change to your account we will notify you.
Outstanding Personal Service
We strive to establish and maintain the very best customer service practices for our clients. It is our ultimate goal to "set the bar" in the managed account industry, so that everyone else is measured by how their services compare to StraightLine. If you ever have a question about your retirement plan or our Pro(b) service please contact us—we're here for you.
Q: How do I sign up?
A: There are three ways you can sign up – in person, have the papers sent to you and we'll follow up with a call, or on the web. Click here to signup via the web.
Q: What are the fees?
A. Annual fees are based on your total account balance in all UF sponsored plans.
| Pro(b) |
|
|
| $0 - $5,000 |
|
$0 |
| $5,001 - $25,000 |
|
$200 |
| $25,001 - $50,000 |
|
$350 |
| $50,001 and above |
|
$500 |
| |
|
|
| ProAdvice |
|
|
| All Accounts |
|
$250 |
Q: How do I pay for the service?
A.
We are working with the investment sponsors to be able to take the fee directly from your account. If this is available, the fee will be taken from your account unless you'd rather pay outside the plan. If you choose the latter you may get a tax deduction but you'd need to consult your tax professional. Typically it is easiest to have the fee deducted from your retirement account.
Q: What if I want to get out before the year is up?
A.
We will prorate the fee to the nearest quarter and send the balance back to you.
Q: Can I call the research department just to talk?
A.
You bet. It is equally important for our research staff to answer as many questions as we can. We continually strive to be the best financial service firm possible and those communications are vital to us.
Q: How often do you make changes?
A.
Our research team continually reviews market conditions, world events, and other factors that may affect your portfolio. Based on that information, we make changes as warranted. We have made as many as five changes in a year and as few as two.
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