Principal Bank Joins RolloverSystems Network; Company Continues to Expand Automatic Rollover Options
Business Wire, July 13, 2005
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — RolloverSystems, Inc., the leader in technology-based rollover solutions, announced today that Principal Bank, a member of the Principal Financial Group(R), will join the RolloverSystems network as a Safe Harbor IRA provider. With the addition of Principal Bank, RolloverSystems gives companies and their eligible employees access to the most comprehensive list of automatic rollover options available.
The new IRA provider expands the choices available to plan sponsors and providers seeking to implement automatic rollover programs under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA). The investment product offered by Principal Bank is FDIC insured, providing maximum security for employers concerned about meeting fiduciary responsibilities.
“It’s a big win for us to have Principal Bank offering automatic rollovers on our platform,” said Reginald Bowser, chief executive officer of RolloverSystems. “Principal is a brand name recognized and highly regarded by many plan sponsors and plan participants, alike. RolloverSystems is pleased to add this excellent company to our growing list of safe harbor IRA providers.”
New automatic rollover provisions of EGTRRA became effective on March 28 of this year. Retirement plans such as 401(k) and 403(b) plans may no longer cash out terminated participant accounts with balances greater than $1,000. Instead, if the participant does not choose a distribution option, the plan sponsor must either roll over the balances to a special safe harbor IRA or leave the money in the plan indefinitely. Mandatory rollovers are permitted for balances up to $5,000.
“Though automatic rollover account balances are typically low, the sheer number of these accounts available in the market makes this an attractive opportunity for us,” said David Merlo, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Principal Bank.
RolloverSystems offers outsourced distribution services to plan sponsors and plan providers. The company connects eligible plan participants to a network of top investment companies that includes Fidelity Investments, Charles Schwab & Co., JPMorgan Chase, TD Waterhouse, American Century Investments, New York Life and Harrisdirect. In addition, RolloverSystems provides a complete, technology-based service for automatic rollovers. Plan sponsors choose from a list of pre-approved safe harbor IRA providers, and RolloverSystems helps implement a program.
About RolloverSystems
RolloverSystems is the leading provider of technology-based 401(k) and 403(b) rollover products and services for financial institutions, plan sponsors, and HR technology companies. The company helps financial institutions capture new Rollover IRA customers and selectively retain corporate retirement plan assets as Rollover IRAs. In addition, RolloverSystems helps plan sponsors and plan providers save time and money by outsourcing rollover transactions and enabling more terminated participants to select a rollover option. The company operates the only independent, objective platform that matches retirement plan participants with a network of top-tier financial institutions. For more information on RolloverSystems, please visit www.rolloversystems.com.
About Principal Bank
Established in 1998, Principal Bank was one of the first direct banks approved and chartered by the Office of Thrift Supervision as a federal savings bank and has experienced rapid growth to $1.2 billion in assets as of December 31, 2004. Principal Bank is a member of the Principal Financial Group.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group(R) (The Principal (R))(1) is a leader in offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products and services, including retirement and investment services, life and health insurance and banking through its diverse family of financial services companies. A member of the Fortune 500, the Principal Financial Group has $174.7 billion in assets under management(2) and serves some 14.9 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG
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