By Kathryn Kretschmer Weyland
June 21, 2004

Defined Contribution News announces that after sifting through scores of emails and phoned-in comments from industry professionals, they have chosen their Impact Players of the Year.

Among them are long-time partner Duane Meek and Nationwide Retirement Solutions which were named Bundled Provider of the Year.

DCNews reports that in October of 2003, Nationwide Retirement Solutions launched the independent Retirement Education Institute, which is the only organization that exclusively analyzes public sector plans with the aim of providing retirement programs in the marketplace with benchmarks by which to compare participant behavior and plan design. This kind of benchmark could allow the public sector a new and more accurate method of cost-benefit analysis when designing plans and choosing providers, changing the way an entire class of customers buys plans.

Bill Thompson, Execute Director of the Milwaukee Deferred Compensation Board, said he has been pleased with the recordkeeping and education services that Nationwid provides for the $417 million, 5,400-life plan. What sets Nationwide apart from other providers is the close contact its representatives maintain with plan sponsors, Thompson said. "We have a very close working relationship with them," he said. Nationwide's participant education offerings, which include investment basics and retirement planning tools, are particularly comprehensive, Thompson said.

The United States Conference of Mayors is represented on the Panel of Advisors of the Nationwide Retirement Education Institute by its Vice President. The Conference will continually hold a chair at this groundbreaking Institute. For further information please contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or kweyland@usmayors.org or Katie Logisz at 202-861-6703 or klogisz@usmayors.org. To contact Nationwide Retirement Solutions directly, please call Maggie Kwasny at 614-854-8697 or kwasnym@nationwide.com.