RKer Reports

Joseph Francis Ready Wells Fargo Head of Trust & Fiduciary Services, Chief Fiduciary Officer, Wealth & Investment Management (WIM)

Late last month, another open architecture recordkeeper bought Tampa, Florida-based Aspire Financial Services. Combined, the two shops have a team of 300 working with 16,000 plans, 750,000 eligible participants, and more than $23 billion in assets under administration.

On July 1, Principal closed on its planned, ten-figure acquisition of Wells Fargo's institutional retirement and trust (IRT) business, roughly doubling the size of Principal's U.S. retirement business. While some top IRT executives took on leadership roles within Principal's retirement and income solutions (RIS) unit after the deal closed, IRT chief Joe Ready and at least one of his top lieutenants stayed at Wells.

Two merging banks will put their retirement plan under a new brand after the deal closes.

A new chief took over Nationwide's retirement plans business last month, after the promotion of John Carter.

A Texas recordkeeper bought two recordkeepers, one in Ohio and one in California. The acquirer is still on the hunt.

On January 1, a new CEO will succeed longtime Ascensus chief Bob Guillocheau, who will stay on as chairman.

A new chief recently took over Mutual of Omaha's 401(k) business.

On Monday, Voya will launch a joint venture that is expected to grow to more than 1,000 people over time.

DC I-O Dispatches

A trio of DC I-O national accounts executives left Invesco after the OpFunds deal. One of them joined Franklin Templeton.

A veteran ERISA legal eagle fundster died last month at the age of 74.

An OppenheimerFunds DC I-O alumnus recently joined Pimco.

Government Gossip

Last month, after U.S. Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta resigned, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed his choice to replace Acosta.

Also last month, the folks at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposed a rule change to address the so-called "one bad apple" problem in multiple employer plans (MEPs).

Then last week, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) team at the Department of Labor (DoL) finalized its new MEP rules, for association retirement plans (ARPs) and MEPs from PEOs. Though many DC industry insiders praised the new rules, they're still eagerly waiting on followup moves by the DoL and Congress.

Aggregator Accounts

Sources familiar with the situation say that multiple potential bidders have been in talks about potentially buying a certain 401(k) plan advisor (KPA) aggregator based in southern California.

On July 1, CBIZ bought an RIA in Tennessee.

TPA Talk

A Minnesota TPA is boosting its business by 50 percent by buying another Minnesota TPA.

Other Items

A big bank spun off its 14-year-old, direct 401(k) business late last month. The business' management team led the buyout, and alumni of the bank also chipped in.

Broadridge, parent of 401(k) trustodian Matrix, closed on its latest retirement plan industry acquisition.

The FIS retirement solutions team recently welcomed back a top SunGard.

A digital 401(k) startup recently raised $15.4 million in its series B funding round.

As always, this edition of MFWire's Fundster 401k Roundup column is powered by our DC-focused sister publication, 401kWire. 

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