CitiStreet Small 401k Plan Sales Jump 21 Percent in Six Months
QUINCY, MA, July 20, 2006 -- CitiStreet's small corporate 401k sales jumped 21 percent in the first 6 months with revenue up 14 percent over the same period last year, the company announced today.
"CitiStreet is probably best known for serving large businesses and institutions, but we have a robust small corporate business with more than 6,000 clients and we are very committed to that market as well," said Pat Bello, executive vice president in charge of small corporate sales.
The more than 300 new customers include a union local, a wholesale beverage distributor, an engineering group, law firms, small banks and scores of retailers. Among factors contributing to the growth, Bello said, was CitiStreet's continuing successful partnership with the affiliates of Citigroup, a CitiStreet parent company along with State Street.
CitiStreet does most of its small market 401k business in partnership with Citigroup intermediaries and the financial advisors of Smith Barney. That distribution was expanded when Smith Barney took on Legg Mason's broker-dealer business last year, which came via a swap with Legg Mason for Citigroup's asset management unit.
Bello also cited an expansion in the sales staff with industry veterans as a growth contributor. The hirings include Bob Voeste, previously with John Hancock, who covers middle California; Catherine Kennedy, previously with Merrill Lynch, who joined the staff responsible for the Atlantic Coast region; and Derek Ward, a CitiStreet veteran of four years, who is covering the Gulf States region. He added that CitiStreet also hired seven education specialists who hold enrollment and re-enrollment meetings around the country.
As another factor contributing to growth, Bello cited CitiStreet's wide breadth of product offerings across all markets, including the addition of Framewor(k), a fully bundled 401k program sold through Smith Barney financial advisors for plans with $25 million to $100 million in assets.
About CitiStreet
CitiStreet, one of the largest global benefits delivery firms in the United States, is headquartered in Quincy, Mass. CitiStreet has 3,000 employees at offices in Somerset, N.J., Jacksonville, Fla., Lewiston, Maine, Boston and field offices around the nation. It also has a division, CitiStreet Australia, with offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. CitiStreet serves more than 10 million participants and administers approximately $200 billion in assets in the United States for defined contribution, defined benefit and health and welfare plans of corporate, government, health care, Taft-Hartley and not-for-profit organizations. It also serves more than 1 million participants and administers about $15 billion in assets outside the United States. CitiStreet is a 50/50 joint venture between State Street Corp. (NYSE:STT) and Citigroup (NYSE:C). For more CitiStreet information, visit the Web site at www.citistreetonline.com.
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