Retirement Alliance Earns "Best in Class" Honors in 2011 PLANSPONSOR Magazine Survey

Retirement Alliance Again Earns "Best in Class"Honors in 2011 PLANSPONSOR Magazine Survey

National Magazine's Annual Industry Survey Validates Company’s Commitment to Exceptional Customer Service

 MANCHESTER, N.H. –December 6, 2011– Retirement Alliance, Inc., an established retirement services platform provider since 1994, has again been recognized as a leader within its peer group in PLANSPONSOR magazine’s recently released 2011 Annual Defined Contribution Survey (the largest provider survey in the industry). Retirement Alliance serves the 50- to 2,500-participant ($1 million to $25 million) plan market space exclusively through retirement plan advisors, Third Party Administrators (TPAs) and other intermediary retirement plan service professional partners.

Retirement Alliance earned grades of “A” for Sponsor Services and “A-” for Participant Services. Specifically, the firm was recognized as “Best in Class” in the following ten (10) categories:

 Sponsor Service Categories

• Form 5500 Processing
• Compliance Support/Testing
• Account/Service Team Industry Knowledge
• Account/Service Team Responsiveness
• Plan Design Flexibility
• “Cost-to-Value” of Plan Fees

 Participant Service Categories                

• Online Tools/Savings & Investing Services
• Participant Statements
• Enrollment Assistance
• Participant Loan/Withdrawal Processing

Chief Marketing Officer Alan Valença stated, “This year’s survey results reaffirm our approach to delivering “white glove” service that combines our staff of engaged, experienced and dedicated professionals with leading-edge technologies. The end result is a superlative client experience.”

With a response of 82.9%, Retirement Alliance was recognized as one of the top 10 (out of 47 participating providers) in the all-important category of “Clients ‘Extremely Likely to Recommend’ Provider”.

Valença observed that, “I am personally gratified, not only by the fact that more than four (4) out of five (5) of our responding clients are ‘extremely likely to recommend’ us, but also that a nearly unanimous 97.5% of our responding clients stated that they would recommend Retirement Alliance to other plan sponsors. We thank our clients for this tremendous vote of confidence that they have once again given us in this year’s survey. We will continue striving to reward their faith in us on a daily basis in all that we do.”

The survey also showed Retirement Alliance to have the second highest “Percentage of Participants Maximizing Match” (77.7%) among all 47 participating providers.

Noted Valença, “An important first step in a participant’s ability to achieve their retirement income objectives is to ensure that they contribute to their Plan in an amount that will, at a minimum, maximize their employer’s matching contribution. We view our performance in this very important participant metric as confirmation of the effectiveness of our multi-tiered personalized participant communication strategy that is centered upon the 21^st century video-based SmartPlan Enterprise^SM  - an online, interactive participant education and communication system.” (see SmartPlan Enterprise Offers Exciting Alternative to Traditional Enrollment Kits ).

About Retirement Alliance, Inc.

Retirement Alliance, Inc. is a New Hampshire-based retirement plan services provider committed to offering intermediary partners and their clients true open investment architecture with no proprietary fund requirements; full fee transparency—by returning all available revenue sharing that Plan assets generate into an ERISA Budget Account to be used at the discretion of the Plan Sponsor (typically to offset plan-related expenses); and a validated “white glove” service model that combines leading edge technology with experienced professionals (averaging more than 10 years of industry experience and five years at Retirement Alliance) to deliver a world class service experience. The firm hosts an annual Advisor Summit for leading retirement plan advisors, non-recordkeeping third party administrators and other intermediary retirement plan service professionals from around the country.

About the 2011 PLANSPONSOR Defined Contribution Survey:

For more than a decade, PLANSPONSOR's annual Defined Contribution Survey has been the most important industry benchmark, measuring and evaluating 401(k) and other DC providers according to feedback from their own clients. Dozens of categories are rated in service to the employer as well as participant service. The 2011 Annual DC Survey was conducted by PLANSPONSOR magazine between late June and August 2011. Approximately 50,000 survey questionnaires were sent to defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors. The results are comprised of 6,885 total usable responses received by the close of the survey on August 26, 2010.

For the full list of PLANSPONSOR magazine’s survey categories and related article visit

http://www.plansponsor.com/2011_DC_Survey.aspx.

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Media contact:

Alan P. Valença, CFP^®, AIF^®, ARPC

Retirement Alliance, Inc.

603-647-5600 x23

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