Waters Receives Leadership Advisor Award
Sean M. Waters, co-founder of Cook Street Consulting Inc. (CSC) in Greenwood Village, Colo., received the 2010 Morningstar—ASPPA 401(k) Advisor Leadership Award during the annual ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT in Orlando, Fla. on March 15. The award was introduced in 2008 to honor a specific accomplishment or contribution by an advisor or group within the 401(k) industry. Sponsored by Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, and ASPPA, the leader in retirement plan education and advocacy, the award reflects the multi-faceted efforts of advisors to serve their clients—both plan sponsors and participants, innovate within the retirement plan industry, and maintain high ethical standards.
Mary Beth Glotzbach, Morningstar vice president of investor communications, and Brian Graff, ASPPA executive director/CEO, presented the award to Waters and offered certificates to two finalists—Steven Dimitriou of Mayflower Advisors, and Kendall Storch of Longfellow Benefits. The three honorees were selected from among 100 nominations sent in by their peers and colleagues throughout the retirement plan industry.
Sean Waters has all the qualities a leading advisor should possess—outstanding client service, ethical practice, industry expertise, innovation, and a primary focus on the needs of his plan sponsors and participants,” said Graff. “As a result, he has enhanced the ability of working Americans to achieve a secure retirement.”
Prior to the award presentation, fellow advisor Todd Lacey of The (k)larity Group moderated a special session with Waters, Dimitriou and Storch. They offered SUMMIT attendees a robust discussion on fiduciary duty, fee disclosure, ways to improve plan participation and advisory management. Acknowledging the backlash against 401(k) plans during the economic downturn, Waters made the case for the private retirement system: “I think the 401(k) is a great structure. Studies have shown that if people invest regularly and rebalance their portfolios, they won’t experience the loss that many did over the last decade.” Waters added that “participants may have felt awful during the downturn, but the data shows the average participant did fine, and it was because of the features found in an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan.”
As co-founder at CSC, Waters oversees fiduciary analysis, asset allocation modeling and business development. He and his 10-person team oversee approximately $5.25 billion in retirement plan assets. Prior to his work at CSC, Waters worked as an institutional portfolio manager for Scudder Kemper Investments in San Francisco where he managed over $250 million, in addition to co-managing another $1.5 billion. Waters began his career at Crédit Lyonnais in New York as a proprietary bond trader. He received his BA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is a member of the CFA Institute, the Denver Society of Security Analysts, and the Investment Management Council, a national organization of select investment consultants and advisors with specialized fiduciary training. In addition to his business activities, Waters also serves on the Boards of Invest in Kids, a non-profit organization, and the Ricks Center for Gifted Children.
Previous recipients of the 401(k) Leadership Award include Fred Reish of Reish & Reicher, and William Chetney of National Retirement Partners. The 10th anniversary of The ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT will be held March 6-8, 2011 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.
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