One City Built to Last

y peter suciu
A STRAIGHTLINE PATH
For those planning for retirement
today, there can be a lot of jargon
flying around that is often
more confusing than informative.
For Bethany W. Mosshart,
CEO of the Troy, Mich. firm StraightLine,
it’s all about guiding clients based on
what is right for them, rather
than just following the old
school investing models.
“We are a true fiduciary –
and we take that responsibility
very seriously,” Mosshart
told The Suit. StraightLine
works with employers of
all sizes, public and private,
providing account management
for employees regardless
of their account size.
The service doesn’t cost employers
anything but a small
bit OF time for meetings and
it provides an essential benefit
to their people.
The firm’s founders and
principals came from the
commission-based brokerage
industry and all saw
the inherent problems of
traditional financial services
to Retirement
firms. They began StraightLine by managing
401K accounts for corporate clients
and individuals.
Mosshart has been the CEO since the
firm’s founding in 2002. She has been
responsible for client service and retention,
while acting as a liaison between
clients and their plan providers. With a
background in education, Mosshart
helped steer the firm toward
working with companies
to provide account management
and participant
education,
where she saw an
opportunity for
the firm’s services.
This is
now the area of
concentration
for new business
development.
In the process,
Straight-
Line helps all of its clients prepare for
retirement. Mosshart stressed that, while
there is a wealth of information for those
who want it, most individuals don’t even
care how the system works. They just
want to know that someone is helping
them make informed decisions as they
work their way toward a solid
financial future.
“We strive to make sure
we understand the client’s
risk profile: How close they
are to retirement; how soon
they expect to use their money;
their personal attitudes
about risk and reward, and
the tradeoff between those
two,” Mosshart explained.
“We make a concerted effort
to get the client into the risk
model that is appropriate
for them. If it is someone in
their 30s, they are generally
invested differently from
someone in their late 50s.”
This has also become increasingly
important as individuals
are living longer and
need their money to go the
distance for them. Mosshart
said that StraightLine strives
to reinforce the good habits of clients regarding
savings – to start early and to
save as much as they possibly can.
“They need to get in the habit of saving
more, because people are requiring their
money to last longer,” she said, while
noting that the status of social security
remains in doubt for many younger
people. “Having that uncertainly about
social security makes personal investing
and personal retirement planning all the
more important,” Mosshart stressed.
StraightLine
165 Kirts Blvd., Suite 100
Troy, MI 48084
248.269.8366
www.straightline.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.51