Merrill Lynch Makes Online 'Paperless Rollovers' Available to Retirement Plan Participants
NEW YORK, NY, January 22, 2004 -- Merrill Lynch today announced a strategic alliance with Wealth Management Systems, Inc. (WMSI) to offer retirement plan participants online tools for rollovers and withdrawals - and a paperless way to process both.
WMSI has developed "The Rollover Solutions Network," which serves as an electronic interface between employer-sponsored retirement plans and retail brokerage accounts. Retirement plan participants can use the platform to request distributions and rollovers, open retail accounts, and direct distributions or rollovers into those accounts.
"The Rollover Solutions Network streamlines distribution processing for retirement plan sponsors, virtually eliminating paperwork while increasing productivity and reducing costs," said James McCarthy, first vice president, Merrill Lynch Retirement Group.
"Integrating distribution processes with IRA rollover services helps plan sponsors to better serve the needs of their participants who are making distribution decisions that will affect their retirement security and longer-term financial well being," McCarthy said.
The platform also allows for ongoing monitoring and tracking of rollover and distribution activity, providing plan sponsors with insights into participant behavior and decision-making. This will help sponsors ensure that participants are empowered to make informed decisions regarding their distribution options.
"We saw the potential to improve distribution processing and facilitate the structure of an IRA marketplace," said Tom Loch, president and chief technology officer of Wealth Management Systems. "If retirement plan providers could integrate their distribution services with multiple financial institutions, participants would be able to choose their IRA provider and we could create a home for every rollover account regardless of the size of the balance," he said.
Employees who use The Rollover Solutions Network now have access to Merrill Lynch's Transition Services tools and information as well.
Merrill Lynch created a new education and planning program, Transition Services, to aid employees when they reach important milestones -- from changing employers to preparing for upcoming retirement. The program helps employees understand their distribution options and guides them through the process.
"By educating and guiding individuals who face tough distribution decisions, we can help them be better prepared to achieve retirement success," McCarthy added.
About Merrill Lynch
The Merrill Lynch Retirement Group, a leader in retirement services for employers and individuals, is responsible for assets in excess of $283 billion held by 5 million individuals and nearly 22,000 workplace-based retirement programs.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 35 countries and total client assets of approximately $1.5 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global underwriter of debt and equity securities and strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets, with assets under management of $500 billion. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
About Wealth Management Systems
Wealth Management Systems, Inc. (WMSI) is an expert technology consulting company that provides business analysis, design, development and deployment of Internet applications supporting financial service organization initiatives for the employee benefits industry. Founded in 2000, WMSI develops technology solutions for institutional employee benefit practices. WMSI web sites currently service over 25,000 plan sponsors and 8.5 million participants and coordinate the processing of over 45,000 transactions on a daily basis.
Wealth Management Systems, Inc. is a privately held technology company headquartered in Princeton, NJ. Additional information about the Company is available at www.wealthmsi.com.
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