The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) held a Fiduciary Education Program in Denver, Colorado at the University of Denver. Among the program topics discussed during the TPSU Program was the benefit of having an executive management team understand the benefits that a strong 401k Plan can bring to the employees and the company.
At the conclusion of the TPSU Program, Fred Barstein, TPSU Founder and CEO, interviewed Marty May, President and Chief Executive Officer of Solera National Bank, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
The company’s executives recognize that offering employees a good 401k plan not only prepares employees for their retirement, but it also delivers returns to the organization in the form of lowering employee turnover.
Full Transcript Below
Fred: Fred Barstein with 401K TV, the University of Denver, where we just completed a TPSU program. We’re here with Marty. We’re lucky enough to have a president of an organization, which is great. Welcome, Marty.
Marty: Thank you.
Fred: Okay if I ask you a few questions?
Marty: Sure.
Fred: So tell our audience a little bit about yourself and your role.
Marty: I’m the president and CEO of Solera National Bank. We’re a small Denver headquartered bank focused on businesses. Privately held businesses primarily.
Fred: Great, so we don’t get too many president and CEOs. One of the discussions that we talk about a lot is financial wellness, right? It’s a big topic. Everybody talks about it, but we struggle with where’s the return, right? So, when an HR person, benefits person, comes to you and says I want to do a financial wellness employee education, and investing time or money, what kind of business case are you looking for? What are the things that will help you to make that determination?
Marty: I think that the main thing, Fred, is to make sure you focus on pitching me what’s good for the company. My job ultimately is to do what’s right by the organization, not for any individual person or group. So, pitch me on the benefits to the company.
Fred: Right.
Marty: Things like employee retention, lowering turnover, things that are going to impact our cost or our ability to attract good talent. That’s what matters to me. And, make the business case in that way.
Fred: Right, because you’re in the people management business, right?
Marty: Yes.
Fred: You do loans and all these kind of things, but without people, that doesn’t happen.
Marty: Right.
Fred: And having good people these days is hard.
Marty: Right. Having great people is really important.
Fred: Is really important. So that is the business case for you. And the other thing that you talked about in some of this, you said tell me how this focus on outcomes, the auto plan, has an effect. Did you see that it really does have an effect on [crosstalk 00:02:01]
Marty: Yeah. It definitely looked like it. That was one of my questions, was at the end of the day, are we actually having an impact on employees, and their ability to save for retirement. This is a long term game, and so its the power of compounding, are they participating first of all, because you’ve got to play in order to win. And then are you doing things to allow that compounding effect over time to really take effect?
Fred: Tell us the story about when you were a 24 year old.
Marty: I got lucky. I got lucky that somebody came by my desk when I was 24 years old and it was open enrollment time, and he saw that I was working on my 401K thing, and he asked me very simple question, are you maxing out your 401K, and I kind of smirked and laughed and said, “No, I can’t afford to do that.” And he said the next time I come by your desk, the answer better be yes to that. And I just didn’t ask any questions honestly, I just felt like, well at a minimum if I do this, I’m not going to have to hear any gruff from him. And it’s panned out really well for me. It has made me a lifelong saver, being focused on that.
Fred: It’s a great story.
Marty: You start to see outcomes, start to see that number go up in your statement, it’s a very powerful tool.
Fred: Very good. Well, thanks for your time today, Marty.
Marty: Thanks Fred.
Fred: And thank you for watching 401K TV, stay tuned.
