NORWOOD, Mass., March 8, 2004 – NYLIM Retirement Plan Services, a division of New York Life Investment Management LLC (NYLIM), announced today that World Kitchen, Inc. has hired the retirement plan provider to manage both its $74 million 401(k) plan and its $90 million defined benefit pension plan. 

World Kitchen, based in Reston, Va., and a maker of houseware products, has 2,550 participants in its 401(k) plan and 5,900 in its pension plan.  NYLIM will provide integrated, total retirement outsourcing (TRO) services, including recordkeeping, administration, trust, ERISA consulting services, and 401(k) plan investment management.

Wayne Bogosian, president and chief executive officer of The PFE Group, a fee-based consulting firm based in Natick, Mass., worked with World Kitchen on its selection of NYLIM Retirement Plan Services. The PFE Group is providing investment advice and employee education meetings to World Kitchen.

“Many companies are beginning to outsource their entire retirement program and are seeing such benefits as greater control over all their plans, cost savings, and fewer providers to manage.  We are pleased to have been selected by World Kitchen for both of their plans,” said Tom Clough, managing director of NYLIM Retirement Plan Services. 

About World Kitchen

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, World Kitchen, Inc. manufacturers and markets glass, glass ceramic and metal cookware, bakeware, tabletop products and cutlery sold under well-known brands including CorningWare®, Pyrex®, Corelle®, Revere®, EKCO®, Baker's Secret®, Magnalite®, Chicago Cutlery® and OXO®. The Company employs approximately 3,000 people worldwide.

About The PFE Group

The PFE Group is a fee-only consulting group that provides a wide range of services to retirement plan sponsors, including investment consulting, plan communications and education, and vendor searches. The PFE Group is located in Natick, Mass.

About NYLIM Retirement Plan Services

NYLIM Retirement Plan Services administers more than 1,500 comprehensive defined contribution, defined benefit and deferred compensation plans as of December 31, 2003.   NYLIM Retirement Plan Services oversees 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 $179 billion in assets under management as of December 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.

NYLIFE Distributors LLC, 169 Lackawanna Ave., Parsippany, NJ 07054.

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