As a Retirement Plan Advisor with 401(k) Specialists, the employer-sponsored retirement plan division of Thiesen Dueker, Andy is based in the firm’s headquarters office in Fresno, California. He works with businesses throughout California to establish, enhance and maintain 401(k) and other company-sponsored retirement plans.
With more than 25 years of financial services experience, Andy works directly with business owners, CFOs, human resources teams, plan trustees and retirement plan committees. He helps employers address the complexities and responsibilities that come with sponsoring an employee retirement plan – from plan design, fiduciary responsibilities and investment oversight to regulatory compliance, employee enrollment and participant education.
Just as importantly, Andy understands that managing a retirement plan can consume valuable time and resources for a company’s leadership and HR staff. His goal is to make the process easier for plan sponsors while helping their employees understand and take full advantage of the retirement benefits available to them.
Professional Overview
Andy began his financial services career in 1999 as a financial advisor. Over the years, he developed a reputation for helping clients work toward solving problems and navigate complicated financial decisions.
In 2018, his career became increasingly focused on employer-sponsored retirement plans. Working directly with business owners, CFOs, plan trustees and HR teams, Andy helped companies manage their employee retirement plans and the fiduciary responsibilities that accompany them. His work also brought him directly in contact with employees participating in those plans, helping them better understand their retirement benefits and make informed decisions about their financial futures.
That combination – helping employers manage the complexities of their retirement plans while helping employees better understand and navigate them – became an especially rewarding part of Andy’s career and has remained his professional focus ever since.
“Our goal is to make life easier for our plan sponsors and their participants through sound advice and hands-on support, ” says Vince Mastro, Director of 401(k) Specialists. “Andy’s extensive experience doing just that makes 401(k) Specialists an even stronger partner for the companies we serve.”
As demand for the comprehensive retirement plan services provided by 401(k) Specialists has continued to grow, Andy has taken an important role in serving the team’s expanding client base.
401(k) and Employer-Sponsored Retirement Plan Services
Andy works with plan sponsors to help reduce the time, complexity and administrative burden associated with managing an employee retirement plan. Depending on the needs of the company and its plan, his work may include:
- Fiduciary guidance and plan-level support: Working directly with business owners, plan trustees and retirement plan committees to help them understand and address their fiduciary responsibilities and oversee a retirement plan that remains compliant, efficient and aligned with industry best practices.
- Fiduciary investment recommendations and monitoring: Continually monitoring the plan’s investment lineup and providing investment recommendations to plan trustees and committees to help maintain a high-quality and appropriate menu of investment options for participants.
- Plan design support: Helping employers evaluate plan design and features to help ensure their retirement plan continues to meet the needs of the business and its employees. Plan benchmarking and fee analysis: Reviewing plan cost
- Plan benchmarking and fee analysis: Reviewing plan costs, services and other key measures against appropriate benchmarks to help plan sponsors evaluate the competitiveness and effectiveness of their retirement plan.
- Record keeper and service-provider evaluation: Helping plan sponsors evaluate retirement plan record keepers and other service providers and assisting with provider searches and selection when a change is appropriate.
- Investment Policy Statement support: Assisting plan fiduciaries in establishing, reviewing and maintaining an Investment
Policy Statement and following an appropriate process for monitoring the plan’s investment options. - Retirement plan committee support: Participating in plan committee meetings and helping trustees and committee members maintain a prudent process for reviewing investments, fees, plan services and other fiduciary matters.
- Regulatory and compliance support: Working with plan sponsors and their other retirement plan professionals to help address ERISA requirements, regulatory responsibilities and other compliance considerations associated with maintaining a qualified retirement plan.
- Participant enrollment and education support: Scheduling and supporting employee enrollment and education meetings, helping participants understand their retirement benefits while striving to reduce the administrative burden on the employer’s internal HR team
- Participant services and ongoing support: Giving employees access to the 401(k) Specialists team as a primary resource for plan-related questions while assisting with service requests and problems that need to be resolved.
Through this hands-on approach, Andy and the 401(k) Specialists team seek to become an extension of a client’s internal team – helping employers manage their responsibilities as plan sponsors while helping employees make better use of one of their most important workplace benefits.
Professional Background & Credentials
After becoming a financial advisor in 1999, Andy worked with notable financial services firms including Prudential and A.G. Edwards. He also spent time as a financial advisor serving customers of regional banks.
In 2018, Andy transitioned to an independent advisory firm, where he became more deeply involved with clients sponsoring retirement plans for their employees. “I got a lot of satisfaction helping businesses set up and maintain their retirement plans,” Andy says. “Keeping plans compliant with regulations and tailored to a company’s specific needs can be complex and time-consuming for their staffs. Helping them through this process became very rewarding to me.”
Andy has focused on company-sponsored retirement plans ever since. He joined Thiesen Dueker in 2026 to continue that work as a member of the 401(k) Specialists team. His professional designations reflect that specialization:
- AIF® — Accredited Investment Fiduciary®
- CPFA® — Certified Plan Fiduciary Advisor®
- C(k)P® — Certified
- 401(k) Professional
- NQPC® — Nonqualified Plan Consultant
More About Andy
Andy and his wife, Cari, have been married since 1996. They have two adult sons, Brockton and Maxwell. His niece, Ketta, and foster child, Eva, are also important members of the family.
Their son Maxwell was born with Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic condition associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a leading inherited cause of autism. Helping Maxwell navigate the challenges associated with Fragile X led Andy to become an advocate for other individuals and families affected by the condition. His advocacy has included giving presentations, working with national organizations and traveling to Washington, D.C., to advocate on issues affecting the Fragile X community.
Andy has also been a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the Golden Valley Unified School District in Madera County, including serving as board president.
When he isn’t working or serving his community, Andy enjoys woodworking.