CalSavers Board Selects Ascensus to Administer New Retirement Program

New program to serve 7.5 million California employees who lack a workplace retirement plan

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Aug 16, 2018, 15:02 ET

DRESHER, Pa., Aug. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascensus—whose expertise and technology helps more than eight million people save for retirement, education, and healthcare—has been selected by the California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Investment Board to administer the CalSavers Retirement Savings Program. In a competitive bidding process that included several leading financial services firms, Ascensus was identified as the strongest program administrator.

Ascensus was selected for its unparalleled knowledge of retirement plan administration, deep experience in plan design for other state-run investment programs, state-of-the-art technology, IRA and compliance expertise, and successful administration of the first two state-sponsored retirement programs, OregonSaves and Illinois Secure Choice.

"We're honored to partner with California on this program in support of the retirement goals and dreams of its residents," said Kevin Cox, head of government savings at Ascensus. "Our society is facing a savings dilemma that is leaving millions of Americans unprepared for some of life's biggest milestones, especially retirement. We share in California's mission to close this savings gap, and CalSavers constitutes a major step on that journey."

Roughly 57 percent of private-sector employees in California do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan—yet people are 15 times more likely to save if they have the tools to do so through their employer. By providing a low-cost, automatic savings vehicle to employers, CalSavers will help expand plan access to more than 7.5 million Californians, helping to rectify this disparity.

Set to launch statewide in 2019, CalSavers will be run by a board of directors chaired by California State Treasurer John Chiang. For more information about CalSavers, visit: https://www.treasurer.ca.gov/scib/.

About Ascensus
Ascensus is the largest independent recordkeeping services provider, third-party administrator, and government savings facilitator in the United States. The firm delivers technology and expertise to help millions of people save for what matters most—retirement, education, and healthcare. For more information about Ascensus, visit ascensus.com. View career opportunities at careers.ascensus.com.

SOURCE Ascensus