American Trust Retirement has expanded its presence in the mid-sized plan market with today’s announcement that it has acquired Stanley Benefit Services.
With the deal, AT Retirement Services, LLC (American Trust Retirement), a full-service provider of retirement solutions to financial intermediaries and their clients, takes over Greensboro, N.C.-based Stanley Benefit Services, Inc., an independent employee benefits consulting firm specializing in retirement plan administration. In addition to expanding American Trust Retirement’s expertise in the mid-market space, the deal adds an in-house actuarial team, and supports a broader offering in the defined benefit and cash balance plan market.
This is American Trust Retirement’s second acquisition within the last year—having also recently acquired Unified Trust Company, a national provider of retirement plan solutions and fiduciary services—and supports American Trust’s mission of delivering a comprehensive and differentiated offering for financial intermediaries within the retirement plan ecosystem.
“While consolidation continues across the retirement industry, we prioritize partnering with companies that share our philosophy of delivering quality service and trusted advice,” said Micah DiSalvo, Chief Revenue Officer at American Trust Retirement. “The Stanley Benefits team embodies this, and their deep expertise will further enhance our value proposition.”
Fund Direct Advisors, Inc., an SEC registered investment advisory firm which shares similar ownership with Stanley Benefits, will not be part of the acquisition and will remain independent under the continued leadership of Wes Stanley and Chris Stanley. The remaining team members of Stanley Benefits, including Bill Stanley, Senior Vice President and Chris Francis, Vice President, will become employees of American Trust Retirement.
“This is truly a win all around,” said Wes Stanley, President of Fund Direct Advisors. “We saw this as an opportunity to elevate the client experience through improved technology and resources, while maintaining continuity of relationships with the plan advisor and the Stanley Benefits Greensboro team.”
American Trust Retirement, with offices in Dubuque, Iowa, Memphis, Tenn., and Lexington, Ky., is a subsidiary of EdgeCo Holdings, a leading provider of technology-enabled solutions to financial intermediaries and their clients.
“We have proactively sought to align with groups who can elevate our offering, benefit from our tremendous investment in technology and provide expanded resources for our clients,” said John Moody, CEO of EdgeCo Holdings. “The Stanley Benefits deal allows us to expand further into the mid-size plan market and sharpen our defined benefit offerings, providing even more specialized services to support our financial intermediary partners. I am thrilled to welcome aboard the Stanley Benefits team.”
Stanley Benefits will be rebranded to Stanley Benefit Services, A Division of American Trust Retirement, before eventually transitioning to the American Trust name.
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
