Earlier this week, media reports revealed that Retirement Plan Advisory Group (RPAG) had been acquired by Great Gray Trust Company. One report stated that RPAG had also separately canceled its popular national “Jubilee” conference along with other regional events.
However, an RPAG spokesperson confirmed to 401(k) Specialist that the annual event, held each September at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Southern California, has not been called off.
“Regarding the National Conference, I want to clarify that it has not been canceled,” wrote Martin Graham, senior marketing manager at RPAG, in a comment to 401(k) Specialist. “We will be announcing a revised event schedule for 2025, including our annual National Conference slated for Fall 2025.”
RPAG’s national conference will now be held in late September 2025 in Chicago, IL, according to a Thursday announcement from Great Gray and RPAG.
The acquisition, first reported on Wealthmanagement.com, will expand Great Gray’s authority in the retirement plan space beyond its role as a collective investment trust (CIT) solutions provider.
RPAG, a 401(k)-practice management firm with $1.6 trillion in assets under influence, works with 152,000 retirement plans and has 15 million plan participants. The firm is led by founder and CEO Vince Giovinazzo, along with its President Nick Della Vedova. It is not known whether Giovinazzo or Della Vedova will move on to Great Gray as part of the acquisition.
According to the Thursday release, RPAG, its clients and partners will have access to a line of Great Gray resources and initiatives, including its proprietary onboarding solution BoardingPass.
The two entities also plan to double its marketing, sales, and client support teams by the middle of 2025. RPAG launched its Technology Partnership Program, a platform offering access to a broader suite of CITs to its advisor clients, in January 2025, and plans to launch a corresponding Recordkeeper Partnership Program in April.
Great Gray is owned by private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners. In 2022, Madison Dearborn acquired Wilmington Trust from M&T Bank, and soon after rebranded its CIT division to Great Gray Trust Co.
According to an SEC disclosure from mid-2024, Great Gray and Retirement Plan Advisory Group are wholly owned by the same holding company entity.
flexPATH Strategies, a provider of custom target-date funds (TDFs) who also engages with Great Gray and RPAG, has a different ownership group that includes the holding company as a minority investor, according to the SEC. “Specifically, [the holding company] has an indirect, non-controlling, minority equity investment in flexPATH Strategies. [The holding company] does not have the power, directly or indirectly, to direct the management or policies of flexPATH Strategies,” the disclosure states.
Madison Dearborn had also previously acquired National Financial Partners (NFP) in 2013 for a reported $1.3 billion. The private equity firm would eventually sell NFP to Aon in 2024 for $13 billion.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes changes that clarify the ownership of Great Gray Trust Company, Retirement Plan Advisory Group, and flexPATH Strategies, along with new information obtained in a Thursday press release by Great Gray Trust Company and RPAG.
SEE ALSO:
$13.4 Billion Big Deal: Aon Acquires NFP
Aon Completes NFP Deal Sooner Than Expected
Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with nearly a decade of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado.
