The Hartford Makes Another Retirement Business Acquisition
SIMSBURY, CT, December 20, 2007 -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, has agreed to acquire the defined contribution recordkeeping alliance business of Atlanta, Georgia-based Princeton Retirement Group. This acquisition, when completed, will give The Hartford a foothold in the business of providing recordkeeping services to large financial firms which offer defined contribution plans to their clients. With the transaction, The Hartford adds an additional $7 billion in retirement plan assets across over 720 plans and approximately 170,000 plan participants.
"Our ability to grow our retirement plans business depends in part on being able to provide retirement programs under The Hartford's brand while offering our services to companies that offer retirement plans under their own brand." said John Walters, president of The Hartford's U.S. Wealth Management Group and co-COO of The Hartford's life operations. "As our third retirement plans acquisition in December, this agreement allows us to establish a foothold in a growing and profitable segment of the market while rounding out our service capabilities. We welcome the employees of the alliance business of the Princeton Retirement Group."
"We are excited that through this transaction, we are able to offer the alliance partners of Princeton Retirement Group new services that can bring significant capabilities and opportunities for business growth." said Michael Falcon, Managing Director and Head of the Retirement Group at Merrill Lynch. "We're pleased to continue to serve the majority of the Princeton Retirement Group business that is not part of the transaction through our core integrated benefits platform. This transaction offers us the opportunity for continued investment in growing our core capabilities for the retirement marketplace."
On the close of the transaction, expected to occur during the first quarter of 2008, the approximately 200 alliance business employees will be offered positions with The Hartford. In addition, the company intends to maintain its current offices in Atlanta and Winston-Salem, NC. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed and it is not expected to be material to the company's operations.
The alliance business of the Princeton Retirement Group, which is owned by Merrill Lynch, is a defined contribution recordkeeper based in Atlanta, GA and Winston-Salem, NC. The business, which provides recordkeeping and administrative services to other financial institutions' retirement plans, has approximately $7 billion in assets under administration across more than 720 retirement plans and approximately 170,000 plan participants. Princeton Retirement Group's alliance business model and reputation for high quality service has enabled it to build strong distribution relationships with several large bank broker/dealers which offer retirement plans under their own brand.
This announcement joins The Hartford's recently announced agreements to purchase TopNoggin, an Ohio-based defined benefit administrative and consulting firm and Boston-based Sun Life Retirement Services (U.S.), Inc. (RSI), a high quality provider of recordkeeping and administrative services to defined contribution plans. These three acquisitions, all announced in December, illustrate the company's commitment to increase its retirement plans scale and grow its offering to serve all major markets, customers and types of retirement plans across the defined contribution and defined benefit spectrum.
About The Hartford
The Hartford's Retirement Plans Group is one of The Hartford's fastest growing business segments, with 2006 deposits of $5.5 billion, an increase of 23 percent over the prior year. The group reported 2006 net income of $109 million, an increase of 45 percent over the prior year. Through its extensive broker/dealer and employer relationships, The Hartford provides 401k retirement plans for corporate customers, 457 plans for government entities and 403(b) plans for education, healthcare and non-profit organizations.
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