Products October 10, 2012

ASPPA Creates ESOP Certificate

The American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) released a new educational certificate, The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Administration Certificate.
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“The new ESOP administration certificate was created for retirement plan professionals interested in expanding their knowledge of employee stock ownership plans so they can provide full ESOP administration and consulting services to their clients and become a valuable asset to their employers,” said Kim Szatkowski, ASPPA chief of pension education.

Plan administrators, recordkeepers, consultants and ESOP plan sponsors will benefit from this new program, Szatkowski added.

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Course study materials were written by Kevin G. Long, Esq., and Debi Raphael, CPC, of Chang, Ruthenberg & Long PC to serve as the foundation for proper administration of ESOPs.

The ESOP Administration Certificate provides entry to training in ESOP retirement plan administration, and aims to give those who earn the certificate administration skills and knowledge of the intricacies of these plans.

More information is at www.asppa.org.

 

Products October 10, 2012

Informa Enters Agreement to Buy Zephyr

Informa Investment Solutions (IIS), a supplier of software and solutions for the investment industry, said it has agreed to acquire Zephyr Associates Inc.
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Zephyr, a developer of analytical software tools for investment professionals, offers products and services for selecting investment products and constructing portfolios

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IIS offers a variety of investment content, wealth management analytics and reporting capabilities. The acquisition of Zephyr will expand IIS’ suite of integrated business intelligence and decision support solutions for investment and wealth management professionals. 

Lac Vuong, joint managing director of IIS, said combining the businesses would enable IIS to offer a broader set of solutions to clients and prospects. Of particular note, Vuong said, is “an extensive family of comparative market indices, much deeper and broader investment manager content, not to mention the market leading analytical software application.”

IIS has more than 2,000 clients, according to Leno Toich, the firm’s joint managing director. “The combination of Zephyr’s capabilities with IIS content and functionality will continue to advance our offerings and enable IIS to deliver enhanced products and services to better support our clients’ investment practice,” Toich said.

Zephyr’s chief executive, Will Clemens, cited the strong brand positions of both IIS and Zephyr. “In particular, Zephyr’s addition to the IIS family improves the functional footprint of the IIS suite, while the availability of IIS content will permit deeper analysis within the Zephyr toolkit,” Clemens said.

IIS is a division of Informa PLC. Zephyr will continue to operate as a business unit within IIS.

 

 

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