Press Release
American Express Wins PSCA Signature Award For Minnesota Power Campaign
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, September 24, 2002 — American Express Retirement Services today announced that it won an award from the Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA) in the organization's seventh annual Signature Awards competition for a communications campaign it created on behalf of client Minnesota Power, a division of ALLETE, Inc. PSCA's Signature Awards recognize excellence in plan communication and investment education in 401k plans. In judging campaigns, PSCA places emphasis on campaigns providing measured results.
"We're extremely pleased to be recognized with a Signature Award for the seventh year in a row," said John Baker, senior vice president and chief client service officer for American Express Retirement Services. "In today's volatile market, the methods in which 401k plans communicate to potential participants are even more vital than ever to increasing participation levels and preparing participants for retirement."
American Express Retirement Services won the award in the "Introduction Plan Design/Administrative Changes" category for its work on the Minnesota Power campaign. The conversion education campaign focused on important dates, plan highlights and investment mapping during the conversion by providing detailed materials (brochures, quizzes, posters and letters), enrollment kits and employee seminars. The eye-catching "North Woods" campaign was effective in reaching the company's Northern Minnesota employee base, with 45% of the seminar attendees calculating a retirement goal and a significant number taking action towards their goal following the meeting.
American Express' Signature Award campaigns were on display September 18 through 20 at the PSCA Annual National Conference in Chicago, Ill. Additionally, the Signature Awards publication highlighting the winning programs was distributed at the National Conference.
The Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA) is a nonprofit association advocating increased retirement security through profit sharing, 401k and related defined contribution programs. For more information on PSCA, visit www.psca.org/401k.html.
American Express Financial Advisors is one of the nation's leading financial planning companies. It is part of American Express Financial Corporation, which currently owns or manages more than $238 billion in assets as of June 30, 2002. Through a network of more than 11,300 financial advisors and its online services, the company provides comprehensive, long-term financial planning and high quality financial products to more than 2.6 million clients throughout the United States.
American Express Retirement Services, a service group of American Express Financial Advisors, is a provider of services for defined contribution and 401k plans with total combined assets of more than $31 billion and a participant base of more than 1.2 million as of December 31, 2001. For more information on American Express Retirement Services, visit http://www.americanexpress.com/sponsors.
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