BPAS, a national provider of retirement plan administration, actuarial, consulting, and trust services, recently completed a book of business acquisition with Lifetime Benefit Solutions (LBS), headquartered in Syracuse, NY. This transaction resulted in a transition of approximately 90% of the TPA Service client relationships from LBS to BPAS.

LBS is a third-party administrator, brokerage, and consulting firm that facilitates insurance, self-funding employee benefits, and consulting needs of clients throughout the United States. Recognizing that recent changes taking place in the retirement plan business necessitated a change in strategy for TPA Service plans, LBS began discussions with BPAS about a potential collaboration involving LBS ’TPA book of business. An agreement was reached between the parties in November 2023 with a January 1, 2024 effective date.

Paul Neveu, Chief Executive Officer of BPAS, stated, “At BPAS, we’ve been focused on the retirement plan space for fifty years, and now have approximately 650,000 plan participants in our care. We’re always learning and listening, constantly trying to improve our value proposition. This business is getting more complex by the year. BPAS has deep expertise across the full range of DC and DB retirement plans, plus services like health savings accounts, so we can bring the full range of solutions to this book of clients. It’s our great honor to expand our business through this partnership and we look forward to new chapters together.”

BPAS also transitioned three employees from LBS to the BPAS team. Maryann Geary, President of BPAS Recordkeeping and Administration Services, said, “We pride ourselves on the expertise of our TPA Consulting staff and are thrilled to have the LBS consultants join us.”

Jason Disco, Senior Vice President of Pension Sales & Consulting added, “ BPAS covers the waterfront in the services we provide, and our primary strategy is to partner with advisors and trust companies in the delivery of retirement plan services. We want partners and clients to know that we’re firmly committed to TPA Service plans and this service model as part of the continuum of services we offer. By partnering with advisors and outside recordkeeping platforms, our TPA services product line gives clients flexibility and additional expertise within their retirement programs.”

BPAS, a leading provider of retirement and benefits administration services, is pleased to announce its AutoRollovers service has joined with SS&C Technologies’ Automatic Rollover Program (ARP). SS&C’s pioneering platform is designed to revolutionize the servicing needs of Third-Party Administrators (TPAs), recordkeepers, advisory firms, and plan sponsors.

BPAS AutoRollovers provides a hassle-free IRA solution designed for terminated participants facing mandatory distributions from their retirement accounts. This service simplifies the management of mandatory distributions for plan sponsors, with the added benefit of a fully automated distribution process for plans utilizing the BPAS platform. Offering a comprehensive one-stop solution, AutoRollovers saves both time and money.

The collaboration between BPAS AutoRollovers and SS&C’s ARP aims to simplify and streamline the administration of mandatory rollovers at the plan level, providing an efficient and user-friendly solution.

About SS&C Technologies

SS&C is a global provider of services and software for the financial services and healthcare industries. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, and has offices around the world. Some 20,000 financial services and healthcare organizations, from the world’s largest companies to small and mid-market firms, rely on SS&C for expertise, scale, and technology.

BPAS, a leading national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts has earned top spots among the National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) Advisors’ Choice Awards for all market sizes as a Defined Contribution plan recordkeeper and service provider.

According to the NAPA announcement, “For the second year, we called on advisors to rate different service categories and five distinct market segments. Advisors are ‘in the trenches,’ dealing day in and day out with recordkeeper partners, and are therefore most qualified to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the companies that occupy this critical industry space. “

Advisors were asked to vote only on the services in their target markets—and to evaluate the services on a five-point scale, ranging from “world-class” to “functional” to “needs work.”

Advisors placed BPAS in the Top 5 Recordkeepers in a total of 18 categories across all 5 market segments, including:

• Plan Sponsor Website
• Regulatory Support
• Advisor Support
• Participant Statement
• Education Materials
• Multilingual capabilities
• Plan Health
• Wellness
• Retirement Income

BPAS also received top honors in the 2022 NAPA Advisor Choice Awards.

“We couldn’t be more excited by and grateful for these results,” said Paul Neveu, BPAS CEO. “At BPAS, we’ve been working for years on the blocking and tackling aspects of administering retirement plans – receiving more data from each client, scrubbing data extensively before it is traded, and taking significant work off the desk of Human Resources. We spend a lot of time on people, culture, and relationships to deliver an environment of stability.  That approach seems to be resonating today, as so many firms have been disrupted by turnover following acquisitions.  We will keep at it, with a high-touch, technology-enabled experience. These results are gratifying because they underscore our expertise in the mid and large end of the marketplace – things like company stock, unitization, and complex groups of DC and DB plans. We’re thrilled that Advisors and Trustees are catching on to the BPAS story, and we look forward to their ongoing feedback so we can optimize our services together.”

BPAS offers a range of services that simplify the complicated nature of retirement and benefit plans without the need to engage multiple providers. The service model of comprehensive administration, combined with full-fee transparency and conflict-free open architecture investments, provides the support, versatility, and experience advisors and clients can depend on. All BPAS clients have a dedicated fully credentialed plan consultant, regardless of plan size. In fact, BPAS clients save 45% more time with BPAS than with previous administrators using recordkeeping.

“Flexibility, depth of expertise, and consulting are things we really focus on at BPAS for all of our clients regardless of the size,” said Maryann Geary, President of Plan Administration & Recordkeeping. “We want our reputation to be one of experience, great people, and accountability. It’s reassuring to know that advisors see us as trustworthy partners they can build a business around. But, we won’t let it get to our heads; we’ll keep working every day.”

“The industry has seen quite a bit of turmoil recently, with big changes in service models among many providers,” added Elizabeth Kaido, Senior Vice President of Sales and Relationship Management. “Our model of top-notch expertise and reliable service wrapped in a flexible platform has really resonated with the advisor community.”

The BPAS team attributes their success to hard work, a strong work ethic, and empowering employees to collaborate and resolve issues amicably. “Our main focus is to cultivate a harmonious and supportive work environment with strong relationships based on expertise and minimal drama,” added Neveu. “We will continue working on one issue at a time, using a high-touch, technology-enabled approach. That’s how we roll at BPAS. It’s what defines us. It’s what makes us special.”

BPAS Actuarial and Pension Services (APS) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. APS is a division of BPAS, a leading national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts. BPAS APS provides actuarial, consulting, and plan administration services to corporations, not-for-profit organizations, small-business owners, and professional services groups across the nation.

A spin-off of the former PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Global Human Resources Solutions division in Syracuse, BPAS APS today is named as one of the top 20 retirement plan actuarial practices in the U.S. The organization has 70 employees – including 30 actuaries – servicing hundreds of pension plans for businesses ranging from one to more than 20,000 employees.

It all started thanks to the quick thinking of two Upstate New York-based CEOs: Vince Spina and former BPAS CEO (retired) Barry Kublin. The two met fifteen years before PwC became APS when Spina was working with Community Bank (the parent company of BPAS).

“I was at Coopers and Lybrand, which became PwC,” said Spina, who remains president of BPAS APS to this day. “It was February of 2003, and we had a law change: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The essence of it meant that we at PwC were going to be precluded from serving as actuaries on clients where we were also their auditor. We were going to have to step away from a lot of work. Barry caught wind of that, called me on a Friday morning, and said, ‘Vince, I understand because of Sarbanes you might not be able to keep all your staff. And if that’s the case, we would have a home for some of them at BPAS.’” BPAS was based in nearby Utica.

“I said to Barry, ‘Well, why not take the whole Syracuse office?’ And he paused and said, ‘I’ll get back to you.’”

Kublin called back that Monday morning and started negotiating for BPAS to take ownership of the PwC Syracuse operations. The deal closed on August 1—less than six months later. “It was lightning fast, which is kind of unheard of,” added Spina.

“When I worked for Coopers & Lybrand in Boston in my first job out of college, I heard a lot about our firm’s Syracuse office – where Vince Spina and Sarah Dam were lead actuaries – and the impressive expertise they had. So it was truly a nice surprise to join forces with this same practice again, years later when I became part of BPAS,” recalled BPAS CEO Paul Neveu.

“Just to give you some perspective,” noted Spina. “At the time, BPAS had maybe $5 million in revenue, and we had maybe $4 million in our Syracuse office. So together, in the first full year of 2004, we did about $10 million in business, which was great.” This past year, the company did more than $115 million.

“What does that mean, beyond the impressive increase in dollars? It means that we’re growing,” said Spina. “For twenty years now, we’ve been making things happen and getting it done.”

Coincidentally, BPAS is celebrating its own 50^th anniversary this year.

The range of services provided by APS is impressive: the group covers more than 200 individual-employee businesses (and sometimes their spouses). BPAS APS now has clients in 33 states and Puerto Rico.

Oswego Health, located about 45 minutes north of the BPAS office in Syracuse, has been a client since 1998. “The BPAS APS team has been an integral partner in navigating the challenging regulatory reforms in retirement benefit plan offerings for our employees,” said Eric Campbell, CEO of Oswego Health. “I always trust their advice. This relationship has always allowed us to focus on the core healthcare needs of our community.”

While satisfied clients are a priority, it’s the company’s thriving culture of hard work and honest service, along with a long-serving employee base, that makes Spina smile.

BPAS APS  “is a relationship-driven organization,” noted Spina. “It’s not just about the numbers. We recognize that developing relationships over long periods of time transcends the work.”

“Our APS team is a major national practice — bringing actuarial consulting expertise seen at the high end of the marketplace to the full range of employers, while charging fees that are generally 25 – 30% lower than the largest firms,” said Neveu. “I love the intellectual nature of the team, including their curiosity and creativity for solving problems. Whether it’s a DB SERP, a cash balance/401(k) combination plan, a custom solution to discount rates, or expertise devoted to specific industry groups or types of plans, this team truly shines. We also like to involve some of our actuaries in other projects and needs across BPAS, because they bring such a unique perspective to the table.”

“We’re united in leveraging the APS team to solve complex problems for clients and partners, including creating solutions like our DB 360 program, developed by Jason Disco, Senior Vice President of Pension Sales & Consulting at APS. We celebrate their 20th anniversary, and we look forward to the adventures that lie ahead with our APS team as an integral part of BPAS,” Neveu said.

These sentiments are reflected in the words of just a few of the company’s long-term employees.

Sarah Dam, Senior VP, has been with the company for 20 years. “What’s great about this organization is that it’s large enough to get exposure to a variety of clients and opportunities, but small enough to work closely and develop relationships with colleagues,” said Dam. “Looking back, seeing how much we have grown, not just in numbers but in expertise, I’m proud to say that we have worked as partners with our clients, providing guidance and suggesting solutions as the employee benefit landscape and their own businesses have changed.”

Amy Kemp, VP, Consulting, joined the Syracuse office of PwC five years before the branch spun off into BPAS APS. “We’ve all been through so much change,” she stated. “When I first started in the New York office nearly 37 years ago, people didn’t have computers on their desks. Everything was done on paper. If you needed to put a spreadsheet together, you went to a computer room with about six computers in it, and printed the results on paper! Navigating so much change, along with the many updates in pension rules through the years, has been one of our biggest strengths. It makes all the difference to be a part of a group of intelligent and dedicated people who are always trying to do our best for our clients.”

It is that spirit and culture of excellence that Spina believes will carry the company forward throughout whatever changes come next.

“With the growth of A.I., the new hybrid culture of work-from-home opportunities, and more, the landscape for actuarial and pension services will continue to change at a rapid pace,” he added. “But I think our history shows well that those who have strong relationships will survive the inevitable ups and downs and ebbs and flows of business cycles.”

Hand Benefits & Trust (HB&T), a pioneering, third-generation retirement business based in Houston, is celebrating its 60^th anniversary.

HB&T, a BPAS company, was founded as American Industries Trust Company in 1963 by William W. Hand. Today,  HB&T is led by Stephen Hand, the company’s third-generation President and CEO, whose brothers, William David Hand and John Hand, have also worked at HB&T. But, the company has family roots as a retirement business that actually span nearly 85 years. Back in 1939, Hand’s grandfather, Thomas E. Hand, started Hand & Associates as a pension consulting firm. In 1963, the trust company was created and built on a focus that has sustained the business as it heads into its seventh decade of offering retirement plan trust services and innovative solutions through collective investment funds – a rapidly expanding niche in the retirement industry.   

“A collective investment fund is an investment product that looks and feels very much like a mutual fund,” explains Stephen Hand, the company’s third-generation President and CEO. “But, it’s regulated by a  banking regulator—in our case, the Texas Department of Banking – the IRS and the DOL.”

Unlike mutual funds, collective funds are not available to the general public. They’re only available to qualified retirement plans. “As a result, they don’t have a lot of the extraneous expenses that you see in a mutual fund,” added Hand. “That is one of many reasons these funds have drawn more attention in recent decades, and why they are poised to draw even more attention in the years ahead. It’s an exciting time to be in this business.”

In 2007, Hand Benefits & Trust became part of BPAS, a leading national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts, with offices across the United States and Puerto Rico. Coincidentally, BPAS is celebrating its own 50^th anniversary this year.

According to the US Census Bureau, fewer than 12 percent of small businesses launched in the United States still exist ten years after they were founded. So what led to the longevity of HB&T?

“If there’s one thing that has kept both businesses (BPAS and HB&T) thriving for so many decades, it’s service,” said Paul Neveu, BPAS CEO.  “We care for our clients and we care for each other. It’s our culture that allows us to thrive.”

“Growing up, my father and grandfather taught us, ‘Promise what you can deliver, and deliver what you promise,’” Hand recalled. “Throughout our history, we’ve competed with much larger companies, and we had to ask ourselves, ‘What is our niche going to be, and how are we going to drive success?’ Collective investment funds became our niche, and service is, was, and will always be the key to success.”

According to Hand, the key is hiring good people. “Through the whole evolution of retirement plans, to the rise and fall of defined benefit plans or pensions, to when 401(K )plans changed from quarterly valuations to monthly valuations and then daily valuations, or when the Internet first came along and we had to adjust our technology needs, we had to have employees that were willing to adapt to change. And we found them.” Many of its employees have been with HB&T for more than 20 years which is unheard of in today’s workplace.

Today, HB&T operates as part of the institutional trust division of BPAS, along with Global Trust Company and Northeast Retirement Services (all of which reside within BPAS). This institutional trust practice supports the full suite of collective investment funds, common funds, and a full range of trust and administrative services, such as transfer agency, unitization, master trust administration, fund-of-funds administration, and more. We work with fund custodians, asset owners, financial intermediaries, consulting firms, and plan sponsors to deliver a range of solutions needed in today’s financial marketplace.

As HB&T looks ahead to the next 60 years, Stephen Hand says he expects to see a large influx of business from the 403(b) market. “In the near future, 403(b) participants, which include people who work in public education and a wide variety of non-profit entities, will have the ability to invest in collective investment funds. Access to these funds was not available to them in the past, and the change will definitely benefit participants in the long run. So we’re gearing up for that.”

“At BPAS, collectively, we come to work every day to help people retire,” Hand says. “We’re fortunate to be a small piece of that.”   

Utica, NY (May 23, 2023)— BPAS, a leading national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and collective investment trusts, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this month— and is inviting clients, participants, and the community at large to celebrate all year long!

BPAS (which stands for Benefit Plans Administrative Services) is an all-American underdog story full of resilience, innovation, and staying power that has kept both clients and employees satisfied through five decades of social and economic change.

Jerry Mayer, now 84, started BPAS from his home in Utica when retirement plans were administered on paper. He grew the business in the 1980s, when he and his brother were forced to write their own software to handle the growing requirements of the job. And while he started so small that one of his first employees was his teenaged daughter, he believed from the beginning that he was building a company that would last.

“I’m an optimist,” Mayer said. “We built our firm with integrity, and with good people. The people we hired really mattered to us, and the clients we worked with did, too.” In 1996, BPAS was acquired by Community Bank System, Inc. Barry Kublin sourced the transaction with CBSI. Kublin then led the company through tremendous growth during his tenure as BPAS CEO until he retired and moved to an outside advisory capacity in 2021. “We never defined ourselves as qualified plan administrators,” he said. “Rather, we defined ourselves by our people, technology capabilities, and market opportunities.”

BPAS has transformed into an innovative one-stop-shop for all things benefits-related. Today, this “little company that could” supports more than 4,500 retirement plans with $110 billion in trust assets and $1.3 trillion in fund administration for companies big and small, including many national brands. As CEO and President of the BPAS parent company, Community Bank System, Inc. (CBSI), Mark Tryniski noted, “When I started with the bank in 2003, the revenues of BPAS were somewhere in the $13 million range, and today it’s a $125 million dollar business. So it’s been a tremendous story of growth and success. But it’s also a story that starts and ends with the fact that we care for our clients, and we care for each other. It’s our culture that has made this company thrive.”

Instead of focusing on outward appearances, BPAS focuses on doing the work of delivering the highest-quality products and services to its clients and participants. “It’s still very much about the people who make it happen,” said Paul Neveu, who became BPAS CEO in 2021. “We may not be the flashiest company around, but that’s the way we like it. Our offices aren’t located in some glimmering tower in Lower Manhattan or Boston’s Seaport District. They’re located in a set of green-roofed low-rises in an office park in Utica, New York, which – if you think about it — is really the ultimate flex!”

BPAS also maintains offices in Boston, Buffalo, Houston, Manhattan, Minneapolis, Parsippany, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Sioux Falls, Spokane, Syracuse, and San Juan.

“It’s true that we’re not out there spending tens of millions of dollars on advertising,” added Neveu. “Yet, thousands of employers—from household name employers and financial intermediaries to small businesses–have come to rely on us. We are in this business for one reason: to be an outstanding administration, actuarial and trust services firm. We’re not here to raise assets in mutual funds or cross-pollinate other financial products. We are here because we believe we’re experts at what we do. Yes, we try to improve that value proposition every day, and when we make a mistake we own it. But we’re committed to this lane of the highway.”

BPAS is now a national force in the benefits-plan industry, with 410 employees serving more than 620,000 participants across the United States and Puerto Rico. BPAS’ in-house services include Workplace Retirement Plans, Actuarial & Pension, Health Benefit Consulting, IRA, VEBA HRA, Health & Welfare Plans, Fiduciary, Collective Investment Funds, Fund Administration, and Institutional Trust.

“We do a lot of practical things that solve problems for fiduciaries,” said Neveu. “We levelized fees and operate with true open architecture on investments. We take significant work off the desk of human resources. We answer the phone and call you back quickly. So in many ways, we’ve got a compelling story at BPAS—one that sells itself without the need for big advertising and office towers.”

Whether it’s Actuarial and Pension Services for a Forbes 500 company in Boston or overseeing a 401(k) plan for a mom-and-pop hardware store in the Midwest, every client is treated with the utmost care and provided with the best experience possible.

Humble beginnings. Continuous improvement and the willingness to admit what isn’t working. A culture that values interpersonal relationships. These things aren’t flashy. But, they are what have made BPAS quietly grow for five decades to the organization it is today.

In the months ahead, BPAS will release a series of videos on its company website and social-media channels, featuring interviews with some of the company’s key team members: from BPAS founder Jerry Mayer; to the visionaries who saw what an asset BPAS could be to the future of Community Bank back in the mid-1990s; to the employees who are moving the company forward into its next 50 years by “Solving Tomorrow’s Benefits Challenges Today.”

About BPAS

BPAS is a national provider of retirement plans, benefit plans, fund administration, and institutional trust services. Since 1973, we’ve made it our mission to simplify the complicated by delivering benefit-plan services that solve client challenges without the need to engage multiple providers. One company. One call. We support 4,500 retirement plans, $110 billion in trust assets, $1.3 trillion in fund administration, and more than 620,000 participants.

The BPAS family of services includes: Workplace Retirement Plans, Actuarial & Pension, Healthcare Consulting, IRA, VEBA HRA, Health & Welfare Plans, Fiduciary, Collective Investment Funds, Fund Administration, and Institutional Trust.

As a solutions-oriented national practice, we are committed to “Solving Tomorrow’s Benefit Challenges Today.” Visit bpas.com for more information.