Gaia Capital Management, Inc.

403(b) Brief




Our 403(b) plan is a sophisticated, easy to use tool for acquiring retirement savings at low cost and competitive returns. Our seventeen years of experience guides participant assets through the peaks and troughs and our ethics assure clients that their interests will always be paramount with us. The following features differentiate us from the competition.

Professional Management

Most plans offer participants investment choices, but we go farther. All we ask is that participants identify the risk level that is appropriate for their circumstances; we do the rest. We employ four general risk themes, from aggressive to very conservative. Participants enjoy the benefits of professional management, secure in the knowledge that their money is working for them in a market-wise way. Remember, a retirement plan can be evaluated at retirement by one thing - account balance. It is investment return and the timing and amount of purchases that build balances.

With the Gaia 403(b) plan, you may use us exclusively as your investment manager or you may add us alongside your current vendor. Thus, professional management can be added to self-direction without a major change.

Easy to Understand Design and Administration

403(b) plans require custodial (financial record keeping) and administrative functions. Our plan works very efficiently with custodial services by Fiserv Trust Co. and, if an employer contribution is desired, administrative services from Retirement Essentials. We believe in seamless, easy to understand functions that support the main function of retirement plans - to build retirement savings.

Low Fees

Retirement Essentials fees are among the lowest available for high quality plan administration. Our fee for plan design, administrative facilitation and investment management begins at just 1% per year on account balances and has break points with lower fees beginning at $100,000.

There are no commissions, hidden fees, surrender charges or any other fee not specifically mentioned in easy to read agreements. Other plans may have fees stated in the prospectus, sales material and other disparate locations. We believe in absolute transparency.

Investment Returns

Between 1997and 2001, our four risk strategies produced average annualized returns ranging from 13.2% to 18.9%. The most conservative strategy did not have a losing year. A table of historical performance is available on request.

Participant Communications

Retirement Essentials mails participant statements quarterly. Our office mails the employer a quarterly report that shows returns for the four risk strategies and discusses events that impinged on results. We email these reports to participants, too, provided that the required email addresses are provided to us.

Employers And Participants Can Feel Secure

Gaia Capital Management considers it a privilege and responsibility to guide people's plans and dreams into manifestation through investment management. We use our seventeen years of experience to ferret out truth from fiction and to maintain balance between risk and reward.

Our vision and code of ethics keeps client interest paramount at all times. We cannot promise perfection, but we try to get as close as we can.

Contact Us To Install A New Plan Or To Modify Your Existing Plan

Please email jim.pursley@gaiacapital.com or call him at 800-395-6636 or 503-324-4040 in the Portland, OR metropolitan area. We will prepare a design specific to your needs.




PO Box 823, Forest Grove OR 97116 . Phone (503) 324-4040 or (800) 395-6636 . Fax (503) 992-8446
James C. Pursley, Chief Investment Officer . Email jim.pursley@gaiacapital.com