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The 2015 Pension 40: Mark Mullet

No. 17 Mark Mullet, State Senator / Washington

By Tyler Davies

December 22, 2015

< The 2015 Pension 40: The Long Climb

Mark Mullet

State Senator / Washington

Last year: Not ranked

It took seven years and a dose of dedication for Mark Mullet to catapult from managing currency options trading at UBS in London to helping lead the U.S. retirement security debate as a Washington state senator. After switching in 2007 from finance to a new career as an owner of Issaquah, Washington’s Zeeks Pizza restaurant and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop, Mullet sought a retirement plan for his 50 employees. When he discovered the outsize expense of small-business plan offerings for both employer and employees, a public servant was born. Mullet earned a master’s of public affairs in 2008, won a seat in the state senate in November 2012 and introduced his first retirement plan bill with Republican senator Don Benton in January 2014. That bill, which sought an inexpensive solution piggybacking on the Washington State Investment Board’s defined contribution plan for public employees, was quickly shot down by financial services lobbyists. Undaunted, Mullet reintroduced a bill in 2015 that mutual funds and insurers could live with: a voluntary individual retirement account marketplace for employers with more than 100 workers. He was able to negotiate low plan fees of no more than 100 basis points (1 percent). In May, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the Small Business Retirement Marketplace into law. Now Mullet, who hopes the marketplace will be up and running at the end of 2016, is looking for a million-dollar donation to promote the plan to employers statewide.

The 2015 Pension 40