For an individual, a Smart401k subscription is $59 per quarter, or $199.95 per year, payable in advance by credit card when signing up for the service. . This amount is a fraction of what an investment advisor would charge, and comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.  For the average 401(k) balance of $60,000, Smart401k would pay for itself with an increased gain (or reduced loss) of less than one third of one percent. While we can’t guarantee that we can get you an increased gain in your account, over 80% of the customers that have signed up with us in 2006 are still our customers. 

We offer significant discounts to companies that make Smart401k available to their employees, whether the company or employees pay for the service. For additional information on discounts please contact us at info@smart401k.com.

By the way, if you'd prefer to just send us a check, call us to get your registration packet and just mail it and the check to our address listed under the Contact Us tab.

What is your process for making my recommended investments?

There are three major activities we take in preparing and reviewing recommendations for our customers: 

1.  Establish allocation mixes.
Every three months (at calendar quarter end),  Our Chief Investment Officer, Adam Bold, reviews and revises our recommendation allocation mixes, which identify which asset categories (e.g. Large Company Growth, or Small Company Value) we will be utilizing, and what percentages we will be recommending between each of the fund categories.  We establish different allocation mixes for different levels of risk/investment styles of our customers.

The allocation mixes are established utilizing concepts from the Nobel Prize winning strategies of Modern Portfolio Theory and The Efficient Frontier.  Together, these concepts show that asset category mixes are extremely important over time in investment returns.  Efficient Frontier goes on to show that historically, there is an optimum mix of asset categories that has produced the best investment returns for the risk taken.  The final ingredient in our allocation formula is the incorporation of our analysis on which asset categories have a greater than normal chance of gain over the next few quarters.  Our analysis in this area is based on past performance of each of the asset classes and current and future market and economic conditions.

We first review what funds are available in your plan – both your standard fund options, and any additional options that may be available in your plan, like self directed brokerage options, which provide you with up to thousands of funds to choose from, if your plan offers it.  We also take into account closed funds and funds that aren’t publicly traded.  We review dozens of characteristics and the performance of each fund, and put a premium on the following attributes:

• The Fund Manager’s own track record and his/her tenure with this fund
• Consistency of performance in different timeframes and types of markets
• The “style” of the fund and any style “drift” – whether the fund stays consistent in its type of investments.  In this area we weigh the funds performance against its peers and any available index funds.  We also weigh how a growth or value fund performs against any relevant, comparable category blend fund (a fund that is similar in category to the fund in question, but is a blend of growth and value investments).
• Fund risk versus its return, and its performance related to overall market moves.
• Fund expenses
• Fund Family ethics and stewardship

When then match funds up with the asset categories that have chosen to recommend for our customers this calendar quarter.  We may adjust the fund/category recommendation based on the overall mix of funds we like in your plan, to optimize our overall recommendation for your options.

Your acceptable level of risk can be defined as your willingness to lose your investment principle in return for the chance to increase the overall performance of your investment. Points are awarded for each answer you gave in your questionnaire. The more “safe” your answer, the lower the points awarded. Based on your total score, a “risk level” is assigned to you. Your assigned risk level helps determine how to allocate your investment dollars among the recommended funds in your retirement plan.   If you have special circumstances or simply wish to review your investing style and risk with one of our advisors, we encourage you to call us.

After you complete your investing profile questionnaire, all three of these analysis steps are combined to give you your recommendation.  We are monitoring the fund choices and options for all of our customer’s plans on at least a quarterly basis, and adjust our allocation percentages quarterly as well.

Have more questions for us? Call one of our advisors directly at 877-627-8401
or email us at info@smart401k.com.