Deals & People August 29, 2011

Ascensus Hires Three Regional VPs

Karen Olsen, Jason Timko, and Anna Toy are Ascensus’ newest Regional Vice Presidents for its Florida, New York Metro and Pacific Northwest territories, respectively. 
Reported by

As RVPs, Olsen, Timko, and Toy will work with financial advisers, third party administrators, and financial institutions, including outsourcing partners and DCIO (defined contribution investment only) wholesalers, to maintain Ascensus’ distribution networks.

The three have been tasked with cultivating and maintaining Ascensus’ relationships throughout their regions; Olsen will cover the state of Florida, Timko will represent the New York Metro region, covering New York and northern New Jersey, and Toy will be based in San Francisco and will cover the Pacific Northwest region, a six-state territory that includes northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Alaska.

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“We’re excited to add three experienced and proven retirement wholesalers who join us with extraordinary levels of technical and sales expertise,” says Stephen Cronin, National Sales Director at Ascensus. “Their broad knowledge of the retirement industry and the individual experiences they bring to Ascensus will make an immediate impact for our company and the clients we serve.”

Prior to joining Ascensus, Olsen was an Associate Account Representative at Mutual of America and a Retirement Services District Manager at Automatic Data Processing. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky and holds FINRA Series 6 and 63 credentials.

Timko joins the company from Paychex Retirement Services where he served as a 401(k) Sales Representative, then later became a Financial Advisor Channel Manager. He earned his bachelor’s degree in financial management with a concentration in investments from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.

Toy comes to Ascensus from Automatic Data Processing where she was a Retirement Services District Manager. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco State University School of Business Administration with a concentration in finance. She also holds the following credentials: Series 7 and 63 registrations, and Accredited Retirement Plan Consultant (ARPC) certification.   

Compliance August 29, 2011

60-day Rollover Requirement Waived to Fix IRA Mix-Up

Taxpayers who unsuccessfully attempted to transfer amounts from their individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to a retirement plan based on incorrect advice from their financial adviser were granted 60 days to contribute the amounts into rollover IRAs. 
Reported by

The waiver announcement was made in IRS Letter Ruling 201122032. It explained that when the taxpayers retired, they rolled their retirement plan distributions over to IRAs. Their financial adviser, an accountant, informed them that their IRA funds were not as secure against third-party creditor claims as funds in tax-qualified plans. Acting on this advice, the taxpayers requested distributions of their IRA funds and deposited the amounts in an account. The taxpayers then directed the human resources manager of their prior employer to transfer the amounts from the account into each taxpayer’s account in their old retirement plan.

The human resources manager learned from the plan administrator that the taxpayers were not eligible to make a rollover contribution to the plan because they were no longer plan participants. The taxpayers told the IRS they were not informed that they could not make the rollover contribution until after the expiration of the 60-day rollover period contained in Code Sec. 408(d)(3).

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The IRS determined the information and documentation submitted by the taxpayers were consistent with their assertion that their failure to make a timely rollover was caused by incorrect advice from their financial adviser. Therefore, the IRS waived the 60-day rollover requirement for the distributions from the IRAs and granted the taxpayers 60 days from the issuance of the letter ruling to contribute their funds to a rollover IRA.

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