NORWOOD, Mass. – In order to provide the highest level of service to its retirement plan sponsor clients, NYLIM Retirement Plan Services, a division of New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM), has added a number of new products, including pension orientation sessions, informational brochures and a training program specifically designed to address the impact of merger and acquisition activity.

The tools are all part of Listen & Learn, an educational system for retirement plan sponsors and their participants that was initially introduced in November 2002.

The new tools Listen & Learn offers plan sponsors include:

• Pension orientation sessions that help pension committees understand their responsibilities and explain how a plan converts from one provider to another;
• Training on NYLIM’s retirement plan system;
• Plan event guides that discuss relevant topics such as total retirement plan design and how to avoid Internal Revenue Service plan audits; and
• A training program to educate plan sponsors about how mergers and acquisitions can impact their retirement plans.

All of these enhancements – in addition to a fiduciary education training program launched in March 2003 – are designed to help plan sponsors manage their retirement plans with more information and better preparation.

“Many providers have forgotten the service piece to the retirement business, but we consider it the most important aspect of what we do.  And in survey after survey, our clients report that they value us for that,” said John Harbeck, vice president of client services at NYLIM Retirement Plan Services. 

One of the key pieces of Listen & Learn’s plan sponsor education platform is its new mergers and acquisitions training program.  Many plan sponsors need to learn more about how M & A activity affects their retirement plans.  For instance, if an acquisition occurs and the proper due diligence has not been undertaken beforehand, the acquiring firm could find itself inheriting an underfunded pension plan or a top-heavy 401(k) plan.

“When one company buys another, there are significant implications for both retirement plans and yet many companies do not think about these consequences until after the acquisition or merger is completed,” said Harbeck.  “Part of our mission is to help clients be proactive during such transitions.” 

NYLIM Retirement Plan Services was listed as among the top-performing retirement plan providers in both PLANSPONSOR Magazine’s 2002 DC Survey and Boston Research Group’s DCP 2002 survey. 

About NYLIM Retirement Plan Services

NYLIM Retirement Plan Services oversees more than 1,500 comprehensive defined contribution, defined benefit and deferred compensation plans as of March 31, 2003.  With offices in Norwood, Massachusetts, and Parsippany, New Jersey, NYLIM Retirement Plan Services administers retirement programs for small, medium and large companies, unions, and individuals throughout the United States, and is widely recognized for its leadership in bundled defined contribution and bundled defined benefit plans.

With more than $158 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2003, New York Life Investment Management LLC and its affiliates provide investment management and related services to a wide range of individual, corporate, public, and Taft-Hartley clients.  NYLIM offers institutional asset management, retail investments, retirement plan services, guaranteed products, real estate investments, and alternative investments.

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Contact:               Sarah Lazarus

SSL Media Relations

T: 978-369-4478

sarahlaz@worldnet.att.net