Retirement Industry People Moves

Multnomah Group  and Hyas Group hire consultants; TIAA acquires EverBank; and Northwest Plan Services acquires recordkeeper.

Multnomah Group Hires New Consultant

Multnomah Group, an independent retirement-consulting firm, has hired Stephanie Roupe as its newest consultant. Roupe will advise clients on benefit design, fiduciary governance, and investment management. She will also serve on the Vendor Services Committee and lead business development initiatives in the Puget Sound region.

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Roupe has 10 years of experience in the employee-benefits industry. Her roles span various organizations from non-profits to government entities. Her mission is to enhance financial literacy in every organization she joins, as well as to provide engaging and transparent retirement programs to her clients throughout the retirement plan marketplace.   

She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Seattle University and her bachelor’s degree from Central Washington University.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Multnomah is a fee-for-service consulting firm serving investment-consulting clients as fiduciaries to their plans.

NEXT: TIAA Moving Forward in EverBank Acquisition

TIAA Moving Forward in EverBank Acquisition

TIAA, a financial services provider, announced an agreement to acquire EverBank, a nationwide consumer and commercial bank with $27.4 billion in assets.

This acquisition will expand TIAA’s offerings of banking and lending products, while complementing its suite of retirement, investing and advisory services.

“I am very excited to welcome EverBank to the TIAA team,” says Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., president and chief executive officer at TIAA. “EverBank’s complementary capabilities and two decades of profitability make this an excellent investment and a great strategic fit for TIAA. Together, we look forward to bringing an enhanced level of service and an expanded range of financial solutions to our millions of loyal customers and the institutions we serve.”

The acquisition will also expand TIIA’s services in the Jacksonville, Florida, community as well as in other key markets. 

EverBank’s board of directors unanimously approved the acquisition following a comprehensive review of the proposal as well as strategic and financial alternatives. The transaction is subject to closing conditions including the receipt of regulatory approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the approval by EverBank’s common stockholders.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2017.

NEXT: New Consultant Joins the Hyas Group

New Consultant Joins the Hyas Group

TheHyas Group has added Rasch Cousineau as a senior consultant in its institutional-plan consulting team. He is tasked with expanding the firm’s clientele in the government, corporate and non-profit sectors. He specializes in portfolio construction, retirement plan design, vendor management, plan governance, fee negotiation, RFP management, and fiduciary training.

“We think Rasch’s previous experience of managing the third-party administrator RFP process will be a great asset to our clients who are looking to monitor plan costs and renegotiate favorable contracts,” says Dale Parker, chief operating officer and senior analyst in charge of RFP analysis and platform structure. “The Hyas Group is already an industry leader when it comes to recordkeeping RFPs and vendor evaluation projects, conducting one per month on average, and Rasch’s inside knowledge of the industry should prove invaluable to Hyas Group clients.”

Cousineau brings more than 20 years of experience in the retirement services industry. He previously served as national vice president of defined contribution markets for an industry-leading provider. He has worked closely with industry consultants, investment advisers, plan sponsors, unions, and investment committees. Cousineau has spoken about topics such as defined contribution industry trends, plan design, fiduciary responsibility, and best practices at leading industry organizations including the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA). He earned a bachelor’s degree from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

NEXT: Northwest Plan Services Acquires Recordkeper

Northwest Plan Services Acquires Recordkeper

Northwest Plan Services (NWPS), a recordkeeper and administrator for 401 (k) plans, has announced the acquisition of Seattle-based Trautmann, Maher & Associates (TMA).

Founded in 1991, TMA is an independent provider of 401(k) and retirement plan recordkeeping, administration, actuarial, communication and participant services for more than 175 clients and plans.

“We have tremendous respect for TMA, its principals and employees,” says Tim Wulfekuhle, president and chief executive officer of NWPS. “As the 401(k) landscape continues to shift toward unbundled solutions, it makes strategic sense to combine the resources of our firms and leverage our strengths to support continued, strong growth. TMA brings the same flexibility, obsession with quality, and high-touch client service that are the hallmarks of NWPS. We are confident the strong alignment of our strategies will facilitate a smooth transition for employees, advisers and clients. We will not be making any changes to TMA staff or office location.”

NWPS provides a suite of services for various plan types including 401(k), profit sharing, and defined benefit (DB) pension plans. With the acquisition of TMA, NWPS will now serve about 900 plans nationwide with 300,000 participants and more than $20 billion of assets under administration.

EverythingBenefits Platform Promises Powerful Integrations

The new 401(k) platform is designed to increase productivity in plan administration, while enhancing compliance by reducing the room for error, according to the firm.

EverythingBenefits has launched a new 401(k) integration platform that automates tasks such as communicating payroll data and deferrals, monitoring employee demographics, and managing contributions.

The platform is designed to increase productivity in 401(k) administration, while enhancing compliance by reducing the room for error, according to the firm. Further, all data that needs to be sent to a 401(k) provider can be automatically and securely delivered in the required format.

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According to the United States Department of Labor (DOL), the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) recovered $696.3 million in 2015 for direct payment to plans, participants and beneficiaries. It also closed 2,441 civil investigations, with 67.2% or 1,640 of those cases resulting in monetary results for plans or other corrective action. The firm says these are clear indications of the need for skillful integration and management of compliance-sensitive tasks.

“With such crucial compliance issues at stake for businesses, manually transmitting 401(k) data and files is quickly becoming a thing of the past,” explains Rachel Lyubovitzky, CEO of EverythingBenefits. “Our 401(k) integrations are yet another way that we will help the more than 70 payroll companies we integrate with, and their small- to mid-sized business clients spend less time, money, and resources on benefits administration, and more time focusing on what’s important—enhancing their core business.”

More information is available on the firm’s website

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