Brainerd, Minnesota – February 24, 2010 – Ascensus, a leading retirement plan solutions provider, is pleased to announce Ryan Ward, an ERISA Consultant at Ascensus, earned the highest score nationally for 2009 on the Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) certification examination. Designed by the Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB), a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, and its strategic partner, Ascensus; the well-regarded CISP certification program establishes a high standard of knowledge and competency for professionals in the field of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) services.
To even qualify for the examination, individuals must possess certain industry and educational experience, receive a professional recommendation attesting to qualifications for certification and meet specific ethics requirements. The CISP examination covers several highly specialized areas of expertise, including IRA documentation and maintenance; IRA eligibility, contribution and distribution requirements; retirement plan portability; IRA fees and investments; and retirement planning.
Mr. Ward joined Ascensus in 2007 and completed the CISP examination in August 2009. He is responsible for providing clients with technical consulting on IRAs, Roth IRAs, simplified employee pension (SEP) plans, Simple IRAs, Health Savings Accounts and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. Mr. Ward is also a valuable instructor for Ascensus’ market-leading seminars, which serve to train financial professionals throughout the country on IRA-based products.
“As a proud sponsor of the CISP designation, we at Ascensus couldn’t be happier about Ryan’s impressive accomplishment,” expressed Todd Berghuis, Vice President, ERISA at Ascensus. “This achievement is a testament to Ryan’s level of expertise and speaks to the type of individual Ascensus trusts to send out into the field to consult and educate our national client base.”
About Ascensus
With more than 30 years of industry experience, Ascensus provides high-quality solutions for every segment of the retirement marketplace. Ascensus is a division of Crump Group, Inc., (CGI). CGI is a leading provider of retirement services as well as the largest and most diversified wholesale insurance distributor in the United States. As the nation’s largest independent recordkeeper and administrator for retirement plans in the micro to large market segments and a leading provider of regulatory expertise, plan document services and participant enrollment support, Ascensus services over 27,000 defined contribution plans. The company’s core capabilities encompass every component of a sophisticated retirement infrastructure, including administration, recordkeeping, ERISA consulting, compliance and sales support, trust and custody services, multilingual participant education programs, training and documentation. These solutions are offered with the open architecture investment capabilities that can be tailored to support the needs of institutional retirement plan providers, third party administrators, financial advisors and their clients. For more information, visit www.ascensus.com.
CONTACT:
Todd Berghuis
Vice President–ERISA
Ascensus
Tel: 218-825-5742