Raymond James Financial Inc. today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Seattle-based Northwest Plan Services (NWPS) Holdings Inc., an independent provider of retirement plan administration, consulting, actuarial and administration services.
The transaction is expected to close before December 31, the announcement said. The terms were not disclosed.
NWPS, which has more than 400,000 participants with more than $35 billion in plan assets, will continue to operate under its current name. Its employees, about 160, will be retained in the firm’s current locations, and president and CEO Tim Wulfekuhle and his leadership team will continue to lead NWPS within the Raymond James organization, the announcement said.
NWPS will operate as part of the larger firm’s Private Client Group and will allow Raymond James to expand its retirement services offerings, including retirement plan administration services, to advisors and clients. The firms said that the timing is opportune as the industry prepares for new solutions created by the SECURE Act, such as pooled retirement arrangements, and increases the investable market for employer and employee small business solutions.
Paul Reilly, chairman and CEO of Raymond James, said NWPS was a good strategic fit with his company’s long-term growth strategy. He also cited the firms’ cultural affinities. “We are both people-oriented companies that place a high priority on excellent service. Adding this valuable retirement capability for our advisors and their clients while providing NWPS with Raymond James’s scale enables managing the end-to-end experience for plan sponsors and plan participants,” he said in a statement.
Wulfekuhle said finding the right partner for the continued growth of NWPS’s business is gratifying and exciting. “Raymond James’s broad scale and capabilities, not to mention its outstanding reputation and focus on client service, provides our team and our clients the opportunity to build on success while staying true to our cultures.”