Manuel Rosado has been named president of retirement planning and wealth management firm Spectrum Investment Advisors Inc. in Mequon.
James Marshall, who founded the company in 1995 as Christiansen Investments Inc., is vacating the role to become chairman. Marshall, 72, does not plan to fully retire. At Spectrum’s 14th annual Retirement Plan Investment Seminar at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee on Wednesday, he joked to about 270 attendees that his wife wants him home for dinner – but not lunch.
“When you build a company and you spend 50 years working hard to build something, it’s hard to shut it off,” Marshall said. “I want to be like an old farmer. I don’t really want to retire; I just want to fade away over time. I think it’ll be good for me and it’ll be good for our company.”
Marshall built the firm from a solo practice to 23 employees and $2.5 billion in assets.
Rosado, 44, is a partner and was most recently vice president. He has worked at Spectrum for 14 years, and was previously principal. He holds an MBA in finance from Concordia University-Wisconsin and a bachelor’s in business administration from Taylor University, where he is on the board of trustees. Rosado also holds the Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation, the Certified Behavioral Finance Analyst certification and the Investment Adviser Representative series 65 license. He is the membership director of Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals Ltd.
Marshall’s son, Jonathan Marshall, 38, serves as chief investment officer at the firm, and is also a partner. He has worked at SIA for 16 years, and developed its color-coded investment system.
“I actually had four people that could have been president of Spectrum,” James Marshall said. “They each have their own slots and Jon is our chief investment officer and he loves being the chief investment officer. That’s his passion. Frankly, when the job of chief investment officer is so critical in an investment firm that when someone loves what they do and they’ve been doing it for 16 years, why take them out of that role?”
“Manuel was more on the marketing side and sales side of Spectrum and so he fits a role of more involvement with customers and so we decided to go with Manuel and Jonathan is good with it.”
Marshall said having a non-family member lead the company will help Spectrum build its brand so it is strong enough to stand on its own, without depending on any single individual.
“Jon will end up owning controlling interest in the company and frankly, I believe that if you can have non-family members that become president, the value of the company is worth more,” he said.
Marshall said he has loved every minute of his time growing the company.
“… I have never dreaded Monday mornings in this business, and I can actually say I skipped to work,” he said. “I have been so blessed to find something you love at 22 years old.”
