New Business Gives 403(b) Providers Access to More Tools

U.S. Retirement Partners (USRP) offers regional 403(b) provider firms a partnership in a national network of providers. The network will offer providers access to more advanced administrative products and services, broader best practices expertise, unbiased product offerings, an array of retirement investments, sophisticated marketing tools, and other resources, according to the announcement.

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Robert C. Dughi, executive chairman of the board of USRP, said in the announcement that USRP will give partners the integrated services to help them grow their businesses including:

• administrative and recordkeeping;
• contribution processing and monitoring;
• compensation reporting and management;
• client management tools; education materials;
• contact management;
• client downloads, data mining and reporting; and
• cross-selling reports.

Firms that partner with USRP will be shareholders in the company and members of the senior leadership team, but will continue to operate under their own names and run their businesses.

“At the same time, they will attain the leverage and experience of an independent, national firm, and add to their profit by being partners in USRP,” said Dughi.

In 1976, Dughi co-founded The Copeland Companies, which served the K-12, hospital, government, and mid-size 401(k) benefit markets. He remained at the helm when Copeland was acquired by Citigroup and then became part of CitiStreet, a joint venture between Citigroup and State Street Corp.

Mark Skinner, USRP president and CEO, was previously a senior executive at CitiStreet and president of Copeland.

More information is at www.usretirementpartners.com .