Michigan School Districts Select The Standard as Single 403(b) Provider (Business Wire)
Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:45:00 Etc/GM
“The Standard was chosen on the basis of its willingness and ability to provide a single vendor product and service model that met every one of our criteria for the 403(b) solution, said Sharon Raschke, Executive Director of Finance & Business for Dexter Community Schools in southeast Michigan. “Our criteria included such things as their long track record as a retirement plan provider, comprehensive participant education program, compliance with new IRS regulations, full fee transparency and fiduciary support. In most cases, their service model will provide our school districts and their employees with much more flexibility than they have had in the past.”
As a single provider, The Standard is able to obtain lower fund management costs by leveraging the total assets under management from all 15 school districts. In addition, the company will credit all service fees received from the fund companies back to the plan, further reducing administrative costs.
The Standard was chosen from an initial group of 28 potential providers who submitted proposals. Consultant PFM Advisors, a division of PFM Asset Management LLC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, assisted with the provider evaluation and recommendation process.
About The Standard
StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries marketed as The Standard — Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, StanCorp Mortgage Investors, StanCorp Investment Advisers, StanCorp Real Estate and StanCorp Equities — is a leading provider of financial products and services. StanCorp’s subsidiaries serve approximately 8.5 million customers nationwide as of March 31, 2009, with group and individual disability insurance, group life, AD&D, vision and dental insurance, retirement plans products and services, individual annuities and investment advice. For more information about The Standard visit its Web site at www.standard.com.
The Standard has provided retirement plan services for more than 70 years. Products are available on a full service or recordkeeping-only basis, through both a trust platform (available in all states) as well as a group annuity platform (available in all states except New York).
For more information on The Standard’s retirement services, visit www.standard.com or contact a Pension Consultant at 877-805-1127.
StanCorp Equities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, distributes group annuity contracts issued by Standard Insurance Company and may provide other brokerage services. Third party administrative services are provided by Standard Retirement Services, Inc. Investment advisory services are provided by StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., a registered investment advisor. StanCorp Equities, Inc., Standard Insurance Company, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., and StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc are subsidiaries of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and all are Oregon corporations.
Contact:
General Media The Standard Director of Public Affairs Bob Speltz, 971-321-3162 bspeltz@standard.com or Investor Relations and Financial Media StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. Assistant Vice President, Investor Relations Jeff Hallin, 971-321-6127 jhallin@standard.com or Contact for Dexter Community Schools Executive Director of Finance & Business Sharon Raschke, 734-424-4107 raschke@dexter.k12.mi.us
source: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/090610/20090610005321.html?.v=1