Educating oneself before committing to non-traditional long-term investment opportunities may seem unnecessary to some, but is critical. Many investment funds, such as Crypto, CSR & ESG’s, have the appeal that traditional 401(k)’s don’t seem to have, but are they a good fit for the long run? After the conclusion of The Plan Sponsor University (TPSU) at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, TPSU Founder and CEO, Fred Barstein spoke with Scott R. Steiding, a Principal at Morrison Hershfield for a 1,000-employee organization. Mr. Steiding discussed his concerns with ensuring that his employees make the right investments for their long-term benefit. He surmises that although funds such as Crypto, and CSR & ESG appear stable in the short-term, these investments aren’t as well defined as 401(k)’s, and can’t guarantee long-term security.
Full Transcript Here
Speaker 1:
Greetings! This is Fred Barstein, CEO and Founder of the Plan Sponsor University, who just completed a successful program, here, at the University of Georgia Terry School of Business, in their Atlanta office. I’m here with Scott. Welcome, Scott.
Speaker 2:
Thank you. Thank you-
Speaker 1:
Okay if I ask you a few questions-
Speaker 2:
Sure. Sure.
Speaker 1:
Before we do, tell our audience a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:
My name’s Scott Steiding. I’m a principal at Morrison Hershfield. We’re an engineering practice across North America, about 1,000 employees total, 200 in the US.
Speaker 1:
Two in US. In the program, you talked about your concern, actually, in the luncheon, about some of your employees being attracted to some funds, less about the value and more about what they stand for-
Speaker 2:
Other reasons or where they’re standing-
Speaker 1:
Can you explain your concerns?
Speaker 2:
Sure. I think that, as many people have said, the pandemic accelerated a lot of things. I think one is investing, and people had time, so they took that opportunity to go out to other sources and start to educate themselves. We’ve seen requests coming from staffs that are looking for different investment opportunities than are traditional. The two specific areas are related to cryptocurrency options, and the second one are corporate social responsibility, environment social governance, CSR and ESG type of investments.
Speaker 1:
What’s your concern?
Speaker 2:
Well, I think our concern is one’s probably easier to manage than the other. I think the cryptocurrency one is a riskier opportunity. For a short period of time, things look really great. Here we are, in July 2022, things look different than they did six months ago. I think, as any firm that’s sort of looking out for their employees, we want to make sure that they’re educated about the long-term investments that they’re making, ensuring that’s the right investment for their risk tolerance. I think, on the second piece, as it relates to sort of CSR and ESG, that’s still transitioning, in terms of what those things specifically mean. It’s not well-defined. In some instances, the goal post or the milestones that individual firms are using, and then, also, some of the larger investment firms that would be managing those portfolios, it’s harder to get an apples-to-apples comparison.
Speaker 1:
Great. Final question for you. Either a couple things you learned, or how was this program for you? Is this your first time coming-
Speaker 2:
This is the first time. Yep. I’ve been on our committee, but I’m probably going to be transitioning into a fiduciary role. Great program. In terms of the pace and the content, was really good, in terms of just letting me know what’s coming next and what some of the additional responsibilities are going to be, as it relates to the program. Then, as a second benefit, just being in a room with other individuals who are very similar to me. This isn’t my full-time job. We’re all juggling other professional roles, but it’s a very important part of any organization, to be looking after this, certainly, taking it seriously, and not only have an opportunity to exchange ideas with them, but actually pick up a few business cards from other people here, local, that I think I’ll be able to reach out to in the future with questions, other peers.
Speaker 1:
Good. Well, thank you for your time today-
Speaker 2:
Thanks, Fred. Thank you very much-
Speaker 1:
… Scott, and thank you for watching 401kTV. Stay tuned!
