AUL Wins Nine Best in Class Trophies

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, December 13, 2004 -- AUL Retirement Services Division is a recipient of nine "Best in Class" trophies from PLANSPONSOR magazine's "2004 Defined Contribution Survey." AUL earned their nine trophies in the small plan market category, which includes companies from $5 million to $50 million in retirement plan assets. These results were published in the December issue of PLANSPONSOR magazine.

"AUL Retirement Services prides itself on its strong customer service and its responsiveness to the needs of its plan sponsors and participants" says Maura Kautsky, Vice President of Marketing. "This recognition is prestigious to us, because it comes straight from our clients" says Kautsky.

Comments from AUL clients can be summarized as, giving continual praise of AUL for their prompt and courteous response to participant questions. AUL is strong in the areas of reporting timeliness, compliance and fees. Most describe AUL's service as "excellent."

In July of 2004, more than 17,000 survey questionnaires were sent to individuals responsible for their companies' defined contribution (DC) plans. The database for sending these questionnaires consisted primarily of PLANSPONSOR readers, but also included client names supplied by DC providers. Survey responses were accepted for two months. A total of 3,247 usable responses were received to compile the results. Providers needed a minimum of 30 total client responses in order to be included in the listings on the following pages, and a total of 46 defined contribution providers achieved that minimum. Best in Class awards were given to those providers with top scores in each service category.

AUL Retirement Services is an experienced provider of retirement products and services to the small and mid-sized employer market. AUL and its predecessor companies have provided financial services for more than 125 years. Retirement products were introduced in 1963 and today include more than 12,000 active retirement plans, nearly half a million participants and more than $7 billion in retirement plan assets.

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