Deals & People July 17, 2012

Lincoln Trust Acquires Benefit Solutions

Lincoln Trust Co. has acquired Benefit Solutions Corp., a 401(k) recordkeeper and third-party administrator (TPA).
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Benefit Solutions, headquartered in Wisconsin, provides retirement plan services including recordkeeping, third-party administration, compliance testing and plan design. With the acquisition, Lincoln Trust now services more than 2,700 qualified plans and more than $3.7 billion in assets under management.

Deyan Stojanovich, founder of Benefit Solutions, will lead institutional sales at Lincoln Trust. “By combining independent money management with distributions through the broker/dealer market, we bring a substantial new opportunity for Lincoln Trust,” he said.

This is Lincoln Trust’s third acquisition in nine months. Lincoln purchased Fringe Benefit Administrators LTD in late 2011 (see “Lincoln Trust Acquires TPA”) and added Independent Pension Consultants Ltd. in May 2012 (see “Lincoln Trust Acquires Pension Consulting Firm”). Earlier this year, the firm sold its self-directed individual retirement account (IRA) division to PENSCO Trust Co. to prepare for future expansion in the defined contribution (DC) marketplace (see “Firms Combine Alternative Assets Capabilities”).

“We’ll continue to try to grow, primarily organically, but also through select acquisitions,” Tom Gonnella, executive vice president, corporate development at Lincoln Trust, told PLANSPONSOR.

Gonnella anticipates Lincoln Trust will complete at least one more acquisition in the next year, focusing on companies that share a similar culture.

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