John Hancock Passes 1,600 Plans with Roth 401k Feature
BOSTON, MA, August 10, 2006 -- John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS) announced today that more than 1,600 401k plans have added the Roth contribution feature. JHRPS is seeing increasing interest and demand for this relatively new retirement savings program.
The Roth 401k feature is proving particularly attractive to those born in 1956 or later. While the single largest uptake has come from participants aged 41-50 years, more than 50 percent of participants who have enrolled in a Roth 401k are 40 years old or younger. "We believe this is a group who perceive a larger tax burden in retirement than they currently shoulder, hence the attractiveness of the Roth 401k structure," said Jennifer Rowe, Vice President, Product Development and Management. "Plan sponsors are seeing the Roth 401k as an easy-to-add feature. It provides a meaningful benefit to attract and retain employees. With the Pension Protection Act removing the sunset clause on the Roth 401k, we believe we will see even greater interest."
In the fall of 2005, JHRPS was one of the first in the 401k industry to launch a campaign around the new Roth 401k. The campaign, called "Be Ready: The Roth 401k Education Campaign," features education materials for advisors, plan sponsors, and participants, and a credit-earning CE course for financial representatives.
"We are pleased by the numbers of plan sponsors who have embraced the Roth 401k early on. We believe that a large part of our success is due to the campaign we mounted last year. By helping prepare our partners, TPAs and financial representatives, JHRPS again demonstrated its commitment to leading the industry and the success we achieve working with our partners," said Jim Brockelman, Senior Vice President of Distribution, JHRPS.
About John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
John Hancock Retirement Plan Services (JHRPS) has been in the qualified retirement plan markets since the 1980s. Amongst mutual fund, life insurance companies and banks, JHRPS is ranked as the #1 provider to 401ks based on number of 401k plans managed, according CFO Magazine. (2006 CFO Magazine 401k Buyers Guide Study, published June 2006.)
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